Pockets Full of Stones
by tesselation
Summary: Cameron isn't the most exciting type of supernatural, but she has one thing going for her- she's useful. In the absence of one telepath, Eric will have to make due with a clairvoyant. Eric/OC
1. Reckless

So, this is me officially venturing into True Blood land. This story will be slightly AU, but only in the sense that I want to play with the original plot and time lines of the show. Not too much, but I though I'd give the warning anyway. This takes place just between seasons 3 and 4.

Please, let me know what you think or if I totally fuck something up.

Also, writing something based off an HBO show finally gives me the freedom to swear as frequently and as creatively as I want. And in spirit of the show, each chapter will be titled based on a song, and said song will be given at the end of the chapter.

* * *

><p>Cameron unblinkingly stared through the tinted window of the microwave, following the dish's circular path. Her trance was broken by the sound of the beeps, signaling the end of her eight-minute wait. Grasping the edges with her fingertips in a feeble attempt to not burn herself, Cameron transferred the dish as quickly as she could from the microwave to the countertop. She shook her hands out to distract herself from the temporary burning sensation.<p>

"Dinner!" she yelled, still shaking her hands loosely.

"Look! Cammie, Look!"

Cameron looked up from the steaming mess of microwavable frozen lasagna to see her eight-year-old nephew holding her poor cat upside down.

"Jackson…" She sighed and frowned.

"Bo likes it. See?" he said, defending himself. Sure enough, the cat was still and calm in the little boy's arms.

"How come when I try to pick Bo up, he claws the crap out of me?" Cameron chuckled, turning her attention away from the rambunctious eight-year-old boy and the good-natured cat to cut the lasagna. The edges were burned, but the middle part was perfectly fine. She scooped a portion onto a plate for Jackson and pushed it down the island to the barstool that he was trying to climb. Bo recovered well and sat beneath Jackson's chair, licking his paws.

"Mama says "crap" is a bad word," Jackson admonished, stirring his lasagna around the plate with a plastic fork.

"Mama says a lot of things," Cameron laughed. She scooped a piece of pasta onto a fork and blew on it, waiting for it to cool down enough to eat. Jackson did the same. He was a mimic. Cameron hated this phase. He copied everything he saw. She knew he would be repeating her language later to his mother. He would follow her around the house, doing exactly what she did. When that got boring, he even copied the cat. The humor in that was not lost on Cameron.

"When will mama be back?" he asked.

"God knows, babe," Cameron sighed, taking another bite of lasagna. She was eating straight from the original container. Anything to reduce the number of dishes she would have to wash later.

"Mama says you shouldn't say the Lord's name in vain," Jackson continued to scold his aunt.

"Has your mama met the Lord?" Cameron waited for Jackson to shake his head. "Then how would she know that? God has bigger things to worry about." That seemed to appease Jackson. He dropped the matter and focused on his dinner. Cameron rolled her eyes. Her sister never attended church.

Bored, and desperate to not have a conversation with an eight-year-old boy, Cameron switched on the little TV above the kitchen sink.

"Spongebob!" Jackson cried as Cameron flipped through the channels.

"Oh hell no, I am not watching that shit," Cameron muttered. She finally landed on the news. She liked to stay informed on what was going on. Some woman with blonde short hair and a string of pearls was arguing with some prick in a suit about vampire rights. Cameron had seen both of them before, but couldn't be bothered to remember their names. She was sick of the whole debate. All she wanted to hear was the weather and local news.

"Is that lady a vampire?" Jackson asked.

"Yep."

"Mama says vampires are bad and to stay away from them. Did you know you have to invite them into the house or else they can't come in? And that the sun burns them?" Jackson was eager to show off his vampire knowledge, but it was all stuff Cameron already knew. Even before the Great Revelation. Some of the vampire lore had actually turned out to be true.

"Yeah, but not all are bad. That lady doesn't seem so bad, does she? Besides, you've never met a vampire."

"So?" Jackson argued. Cameron hated that about children, too.

"So, you hated edamame until you actually tried it. You wouldn't even look at carrots for a while," Cameron countered. She knew comparing vampires to food wasn't a very strong argument, but when dealing with a child, it was good enough. Jackson shrugged and went back to his food. He knew he had lost the argument and when to shut up.

When Cameron couldn't stand the bickering between the AVL representative and the Jesus freak, she switched the channel to some show about hillbilly exterminators and pulled a popsicle out of the freezer for Jackson.

Jackson liked the guy on the show, and liked the creatures even more. He licked his popsicle happily as the guy trapped raccoons under some woman's house. Cameron considered taking a few shots as she marveled at what passed for television shows.

Bedtime couldn't come quick enough for Cameron. Jackson was a pill to put down, but Cameron fought with everything she had to get him to bed. Bedtime was her favorite part of babysitting. She had the rest of the night to watch TV and drink without anyone bothering her. Knowing her sister, she would have hours to herself in the big house.

Cameron curled up on the large couch with Bo by her side and watched reruns of 'The Nanny' until she fell asleep.

She woke up to the sound of her sister stumbling through the back door at three in the morning. Cameron pretended to be asleep as her sister pulled herself up the staircase and into her bedroom. She didn't want to have to deal with her drunken sister after a hard night of partying.

Cameron went around the house and turned off all the lights and locked all of the doors. She grabbed Bo and left the house, locking the back door behind her. She hopped from stepping stone to stepping stone until she was at the base of the wooden staircase leading up to her apartment above the garage. Once inside, Cameron dropped Bo on the couch and slid into her own bed.

Cameron hated the apartment. It had a tiny bedroom, a tiny bathroom, and one large room that functioned as a living room, office, dining room, and kitchenette. Cameron hated living on her sister's property. But it beat living in the house.

Sighing, Cameron reminded herself that her living situation was only temporary. She would get to go back to Dallas, or wherever else interested her, soon enough. Melanie was a terrible landlord, and was difficult to get along with, but Cameron was obligated to help her. They were sisters, after all. No matter how much they fought or disagreed. Melanie needed her, so Cameron came. She just hoped she would be able to leave soon.

Cameron woke up far earlier than she wanted to. Unable to go back to sleep, she rolled out of bed and tripped over the cat on her way to the kitchenette. She opened the refrigerator door in search of something to eat, but it was empty, except for a jar of grape jelly and a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese. She had been putting off going to the store for days. It was hard to muster up the motivation to run errands when there was a fully stocked kitchen just across the yard.

Cameron left her apartment dashed across the dew-soaked back lawn to the back porch of the main house. She opened the back door with the spare key hidden underneath the grill that hadn't been used in months. Once inside the main house, Cameron helped herself to a couple of frozen waffles and grabbed the jug of orange juice. Satisfied with her loot, Cameron exited the house and ran across the lawn, up the stairs, and into her apartment. She ate the waffles frozen and drank out of the jug. These actions would have earned a disapproving look and lecture about proper table etiquette from Melanie. That is, if she wasn't too hung over from her late night out with the girls.

It wasn't until nearly six o'clock that evening that Cameron saw her sister. She honestly wondered how the house ran with someone like Melanie in charge. Cameron knew it would be ten times worse if she wasn't living on the premises.

Cameron abandoned her book to venture down to the main house's kitchen to find out what sort of night her sister had.

"Christ, Mel," Cameron attempted to stifle her laughter at the sight of her sister slumped over the granite countertop, her face pressed firmly against the cool stone, her arms spread out.

"Why do I do this to myself?" Melanie whined, lifting her head to look at her younger sister. Her eyes were red, her face was puffy, and she had dark bags under her eyes, which looked worse than they really were because of all of the smeared, left over eye make-up.

"You either had a really good night, or a really bad night," Cameron smiled, resting her elbows on the counter, across the island from her sister, and resting her chin in her hands.

"Oh, it was awful," Melanie groaned. Cameron rolled her eyes. Melanie had always been the party sister. She couldn't turn down the promise of a good time.

"I guess this means you're not cooking anything for dinner," Cameron sighed. She hated cooking, and looked forward to every time her sister prepared meals. Cameron had limited funds, and could only afford so much take-out.

"Oh, don't even mention food." Melanie picked herself up from the countertop and sighed. As she stretched out her arms, Cameron caught a glimpse of something on her neck.

"What the hell did you do last night, Mel?" Cameron demanded. The something on her sister's neck was either a hickey or bite marks.

"Nothing," Melanie pulled her hair over her shoulders to hide the mark.

"Shut up. What did you do?"

"Kell, Cee, and me went to a bar."

"Which one?" Cameron prodded.

"Hey, I don't need my little sister interrogating me. I'm almost thirty years old. You're not mom, I don't need to tell you where I go or where I've been," Melanie got defensive with her sister, trying to deter the attention away from her neck.

"Fuck you, you went to a vampire bar, didn't you?"

"Who cares if I did?"

"I don't care what you do, just don't be such a fucking hypocrite about it," said Cameron.

"Stop swearing so much. And how am I a hypocrite?" Melanie placed her hands on her hips in a challenging manner.

"You tell Jackson all the damn time that vampires are bad. And you go to a vampire bar and let one of them bite you just for kicks. Hypocrite." Cameron always enjoyed pointing out her sister's failures, but sometimes she really wished she didn't have to point out things that were so obvious.

"Chill out. We all did it. Kell even took one home with her. I just want Jackson to be careful about vamps," Melanie said, trying to defend her actions.

"Your friend Kelly is the most stupid girl I have ever met. And where the hell do you expect Jackson to meet a vampire? You're logic is so screwed up, you know that, right?"

"Just shut up, OK? I don't want to argue with you. I hate it when we fight," Melanie sighed and gave up the fight. Cameron resisted rolling her eyes, but conceded. Melanie moved to rummage through the refrigerator for something to press against her puffy face.

"Have you seen my phone around?" Melanie finally asked, breaking the silence, as she turned to face her sister with a bag of deli sliced cheese pressed against her forehead.

"No," Cameron shook her head. She didn't bother pointing out that she hadn't even been in the house in an effort to avoid another argument.

"Dang, I think I left it at the bar. Either that or Cee's car…" Melanie moved around the island to the portable phone resting on the breakfast table. She dialed a number, and called who Cameron assumed was Cee. She didn't much care to listen in on Melanie trying to talk to her idiot friend. While her sister talked on the phone, Cameron made herself two peanut butter and honey sandwiches.

"Fuck me. Cameron, I think I left my phone at the bar," Melanie whined as she put the phone back in its cradle next to the toaster.

"Sucks," Cameron shrugged as she bit into her sandwich. She didn't really care.

"Will you go get it?" Melanie asked, putting on the pouty face.

"Oh hell no! It's not my problem you can't keep track of your shit!"

"Please!"

"No!"

* * *

><p>"Reckless" by Tilly and the Wall<p> 


	2. Sad Sad City

Cameron really was a pushover. She couldn't say no to her older sister. She hated that, but couldn't help it. Cameron attempted to navigate the streets of Shreveport with her sandwiches balanced on her knee, in search of the vampire bar. Glancing down at the map on her phone, Cameron made a quick turn and pulled into the parking lot of a crummy old building with a horrible neon sign above the door. The name of the bar, Fangtasia, was almost cringe-worthy.

Cameron parked the car and finished off the sandwich she had been working on. It was barely seven o'clock, but it was just dark enough for the lights to be on. Cameron knew they probably weren't open yet. During her junior year of college, she had worked as a bartender and knew far more than she cared about the inner workings of bars. But she knew virtually nothing about vampire bars.

Shoving her phone into her jeans pocket, Cameron got out of the car and crossed the almost empty parking lot, twirling her keys on her finger. She pulled open the heavy padded door, and entered the bar. The inside lived up to any expectations garnered by the name of the bar. Everything was black and red, and the words cliché goth came to Cameron's mind.

Catching sight of the stage and stripper pole, Cameron had a very hard time imagining her sister coming to a place like this.

"We're not open." Cameron spun around from her inspection of the bar to the source of a voice. A well dressed woman stood in front of a short hallway that Cameron assumed lead to the office.

"Yeah, sorry. Look, is there a lost and found? My dumbass sister left her phone here last night and sent me to get it," Cameron explained. She could tell the woman was a vampire. She wasn't exactly scared, but she suddenly felt hyper aware of what she did with herself. She felt vulnerable under the woman's scrutinizing glare.

The vampire rolled her eyes and left, going back into the room she came from. She came back seconds later with a box in her hands. She dropped the box on the bar and took a step back.

"Take a look," the woman drawled boredly. She stood off to the distance with her hands on her hips as Cameron moved to the counter to look through the box.

Cameron hated things like this. There were so many personal items in the box, God knows what she would see. She couldn't see Melanie's phone at the surface, and had to dig. Had she been wearing a long-sleeved top, she would have pulled the sleeves down over her hands. Instead, Cameron grabbed a near-by rag from behind the bar to use as a barrier between her hand and the contents of the lost and found box.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cameron could see the vampire woman watching her closely. She could imagine her perfectly painted eyes narrowing, and her perfectly sculpted brows slightly knotting together.

Ignoring the vampire's stare, Cameron continued to sift through the box. There were all sorts of watches, phones, pieces of jewelry, a few scarves, and other random items, but not the phone she was looking for.

As Cameron was about to give up, a haggard looking blonde woman came out of the women's bathroom with a mop in hand.

"Hey Pam. Someone left a Blackberry in the bathroom!"

"Does it have an orange case?" Cameron asked hopefully. The woman looked amazed.

"How did you know that?" She asked incredulously. The vampire, Pam, rolled her eyes.

Cameron took her phone from her pocket and dialed her sister's number. Just as she had suspected, a familiar ringtone began to play. The blonde looked sheepish as she fished the Blackberry out of her cleavage. Cameron grasped the phone between her thumb and forefinger, disgusted by where the phone had been.

"Um, thanks." Cameron flashed both woman an awkward smile and turned to leave the bar.

The moment Cameron's fingertips touched the door handle, she froze. The sight of the black, velvet upholstered door faded from her sight, and was replaced with a vision of the bar from a different point of view. Cameron could see all of the now crowded bar from atop the stage. She had a perfect view of uniformed police officers surging through the door, everyone panicking and screaming. Across the room, Cameron could see the vampire, Pam, gaping at the scene, looking towards Cameron for a signal of what to do. She was wearing the same outfit- a smart, charcoal gray pencil skirt that clung to her body, a fitted, tight black cardigan with sparkling rhinestones for buttons, and ridiculously tall black patent-leather pumps.

Finally able to shake off the vision, Cameron's conscious mind returned to the present. She wrestled with the idea of warning the employees. Turning her head slightly, Cameron caught sight of the office door closing behind Pam, and the blonde human woman going into the men's bathroom with the mop.

Cameron struggled with her conscience, and finally sighed in defeat.

"Just thought y'all would want to know; pay close attention when you card people tonight!" Cameron shouted to the empty bar. She knew the vampire would hear her, and that she had given them warning enough. Satisfied, Cameron thrust open the door and strode out into the parking lot. After getting into her car, turning it on, and putting on her seatbelt, Cameron looked up and nearly shrieked. A man was standing right outside of her car, staring at her intently through the driver's side window.

"Jesus Christ, what?" Cameron asked, voice raised so he could hear her through the glass. She knew better than to roll down the window.

"Open your window," he said. Cameron sighed and pressed the button for only a second, just long enough to open the window a crack. She didn't like the look of this guy, and wanted to get away from the bar before all of the fangbanger idiots showed up. The man was quite tall, and was still looking down at her, even though Cameron was sitting in a Jeep Wrangler.

After further inspection, Cameron figured out he was probably a vampire. He wore all black, had a pale complexion, and just had that look about him. His blonde hair was combed and slicked back and away from his face.

He rolled his eyes slightly, and curled his long fingers around the edge of the window glass, and pushed down. With ease, he forced the window down into the door.

"That better not be broken," Cameron mumbled. She tapped the button to test it, and when she was satisfied that the window was indeed not broken, she turned her attention to the vampire. His little display of strength confirmed it for Cameron.

"What would you know about carding?" He asked, giving Cameron a menacing stare.

"I read somewhere that vampires, especially the older ones, can sometimes have issues telling human ages, and I was just offering a friendly reminder," said Cameron. She knew telling the vampire her real reasoning would open a whole mess of doors leading to trouble. Lying probably wasn't much better idea, but it was her only choice.

The vampire continued to stare at her, obviously not buying her excuse.

"I swear I'm not a narc or anything. I'm not some undercover cop. Seriously, I have authority issues. Ask every single teacher I had kindergarten through high school." Cameron's nerves were getting the best of her, and she continued to talk and talk. She was probably digging herself into an even deeper hole. She never should have said anything.

Cameron shut up as she noticed the expression on the vampire's face darken. His gaze intensified, and she could feel his influence. She was compelled to hold his gaze, and she could feel her will slip away. He was glamouring her.

Cameron wondered if one was supposed to be able to tell when one was being glamoured. Something felt off about the experience, not that she had anything to compare it to. Cameron had never been glamoured before. She had never really even formally met a vampire before. She had made acquaintances, like Pam, but her experience was severely limited.

"What are you doing here?" the vampire asked slowly and deliberately, anunciating every word, staring deeply into Cameron's eyes and holding her interest.

"What are you doing?" Cameron muttered, barely above a whisper as she reigned herself in. She didn't like the feeling of being glamoured. She swore that she could feel his mind pressing against her own, and she hated the idea of someone else having any sort of control over her. Once again, authority issues.

The vampire stared at her curiously, his brows drawn together as he studied her face. Cameron shifted uncomfortably under his probing gaze.

"What are you?" he finally asked her.

"Can I go now? Please?" Cameron ignored his question, wanting nothing more than to leave the odd situation and put as much distance between her and the vampire. Something about him gave her the sense that he was wickedly powerful. Cameron knew vampires were dangerous, and had all sorts of neat tricks. In the few instances when she had been near them, Cameron didn't remember ever feeling such a sensation as she did when faced with the tall blonde man. He exuded power. His posture, the way he carried himself, and as Pagan and spiritual as it sounded, Cameron had to admit that he had a strong presence, or aura.

"Answer the question," he demanded, gripping the car door separating them. Beneath his hands, the Jeep suddenly seemed so frail. Cameron had fond memories of putting the car through absolute hell on off-roading adventures and had always thought that the car was indestructible. That feeling suddenly vanished as she started to fear for its safety.

There was something seriously wrong with her, if she was more worried about potential dents in her car than the potential threat that this vampire posed on her life.

"Look, you're not the law so I don't have to answer anything," she said defiantly.

"Lucky for you, I'm the sheriff of this area," the vampire smirked.

"Do you have a badge?" The smirk vanished from his face. "I refuse to say anything else without a lawyer present. If you were a real sheriff, you would have read my Miranda rights by now."

A large, pale hand shot forward and grabbed Cameron by the throat. Spluttering, Cameron gripped at the hand in a vain effort to pull it away.

"I'll ask you one last time; what makes you think there will be a raid tonight?" He loosened his grip to allow Cameron the chance to answer, but she could still feel his cold fingers against the skin.

"I just had a feeling! I can't explain it!" she rasped, still clutching at the vampire' unmoving hand, trying to pull it away from her neck.

Cameron could feel the muscles in his wrist and hand tense, and could tell that he was unsatisfied with her answer and was preparing to hurt her again.

"Stop!" she cried.

"You need to be more specific if you want to go home tonight," he threatened. Cameron took that as her cue to stop being sassy.

Suddenly, the headlights of a car pulling into the parking lot illuminated the vampire's pale face. A hard frown set itself on the vampire's face as another car turned into the lot after the first. He let go of Cameron's neck completely, and moved his hand to the door handle on the inside. He opened the door and motioned for Cameron to get out of the car. He didn't want his interrogation to be witnessed by any of the bar's patrons. Cameron at least had that on her side, but she feared where he wanted to relocate the conversation. He stared at her intently as she slowly unbuckled her seatbelt and turned off the engine. She slid out of the car, and the vampire shut the door behind her. He escorted her inside quickly with a firm grip on her shoulder.

They bypassed the bar, and Cameron suddenly got the feeling that they weren't going to his office, either.

"Stop," she said, planting her feet firmly in the ground. She knew the vampire could move her anyway, but he stopped despite his power over her. "I'll cooperate in your office. Nowhere else." She had some sort of inkling that he had intended to go some place more sinister, though Cameron wasn't sure where. She couldn't shake that bad feeling.

Cameron hated that sort of intuition, but knew that it was potentially life-saving. Most people called that sort of feeling a sixth sense, her gut feeling, or instincts. Her mother called it woman's intuition, but somehow those words didn't exactly encompass what Cameron felt.

The vampire studied her, but conceded nonetheless. He diverted his course to his office, and closed and locked the door behind them. Cameron stood awkwardly at the center of the room, facing the vampire as he stared her down.

"Now's where you start explaining," he prodded.

"I don't know how to explain. It sounds stupid, but I don't know. I swear on my mother's grave, I don't know," Cameron pleaded. Suddenly, the gravity of the situation set in. Cameron hardly ever acted on the things that she saw, and when she did, most people just took it as lucky guesses. The vampires seemed to think that something else was going on, but they would get no answers from Cameron.

"I suggest you figure it out," the vampire growled before surging forward and wrapping his fingers around her neck yet again. The second his skin met hers, Cameron was transported to another time and place.

The vampire was sitting on the old plaid couch in her apartment above the garage. He was dressed in dark jeans, a white v-neck shirt, and was barefoot. His face bore a small smirk as he stroked Bo's fur as the cat moved into his lap.

"Eric!" Cameron heard her own voice call from her bedroom. She watched as Eric turned his head to where Cameron saw herself standing in the doorway of her room. "My closet light went out. Change it for me?" She held up a fresh light bulb and smiled sweetly.

Eric pushed Bo off his lap and strode over to Cameron. He took the bulb from her hands, kissed her forehead, and disappeared into the bedroom.

"Is this all I'm good for? Changing lights and getting things off the top shelf?" Cameron heard him say.

"There are other things," Cameron replied in an obviously flirtatious tone.

The vision vanished, and Cameron was back in the office of Fangtasia, the vampire's hand tightening around her throat in a warning manner.

As she returned to herself, Cameron noticed the vampire's quizzical gaze. He was studying her. He had noticed something off about her as her mind descended into a vision, though he didn't know what was happening.

"Eric," Cameron rasped, fighting to get enough air into her lungs to utter his name. His grip tightened briefly, then he let go.

"I beg your pardon?" The vampire, Eric, was not entertained, and his mind immediately began racing to figure out what this girl was.

"I have visions. That's all I can tell you. Sometimes I touch things and get feelings or see things. That's all I know. I had a vision and your name is Eric," Cameron rambled as she rubbed at her neck.

"What did you see?" He asked curiously. He wasn't entirely sure what exactly this girl was. Perhaps some sort of clairvoyant, or psychic. He doubted she was a witch, or any other type of supernatural. It had been a while since Eric had come across a true psychic, and knew how useful one could be.

"Just you. You were sitting down somewhere and someone called your name. Nothing special," said Cameron. "I see a lot of random things that don't have much significance. Sometimes they don't even happen."

"What's your name?" Eric asked, his demeanor changing in an instant from threatening to amiable. It almost frightened Cameron how easily he was able to do that.

"Cameron," she answered.

"Cameron," Eric repeated, "how would you like to make a deal?" A smile appeared on his face, and Cameron got the feeling that she shouldn't be comforted by that.

"It depends."

Eric chuckled once and moved around her towards his desk. He leaned against the edge and folded his arms over his chest, his smile ever-present. Were it a different situation, Cameron would have found him extremely attractive. He was tall and lean, had a handsome face, and a gorgeous head of blonde hair. But survival trumped lust.

"How often do you have these visions?" he asked.

"I don't know, I wouldn't set my watch to them. Sometimes I'll have a lot, then I won't have a single one for weeks," Cameron explained with a shrug of her shoulders. Eric contemplated her words.

"And the subject of these visions?"

"Sometimes I'll have pointless visions, like what I'll eat for lunch. Sometimes they're significant, though. I had a vision of my sister giving birth to a boy when everyone was convinced it would be a girl. I saw your bar getting raided. When I was in college, I had a vision during my first date with this guy that I was waiting for a pregnancy test. I never saw the results, but I didn't miss a single pill, and basically made him double bag it," Cameron paused. "I saw the death of my brother-in-law."

Eric took in Cameron's words and considered them. Her ability was unpredictable at best, but it was still better than nothing.

"I'm going to let you go, and should you have any visions that I might find of interest, you will let me know," said Eric.

"Alright." Cameron contained her joy as best she could. Eric had just made himself a terrible deal. He didn't seem to be aware that she wouldn't have any visions concerning him unless they had anything to do with her. As long as she didn't make any more trips to Fangtasia, she doubted she would ever see him again, in person or in her mind.

Eric plucked a card from atop his desk and passed it to her. Cameron looked down at the simple card, baring only the name of the bar and a phone number, and pocketed it.

"You may go," he waved her off, and moved to stand behind the cluttered desk.

"Um, bye," Cameron bid her farewell and turned to leave the office.

As she exited through the door, she heard him call, "we'll be in touch."

Cameron rushed through the thin crowd that had appeared since she had been in Eric's office, and burst out into the parking lot. She threw herself into her car and drove off, putting as much distance as she could between herself and Fangtasia.

Cameron knew moving to Shreveport and living with her sister was a bad idea.

* * *

><p>"Sad Sad City" by Ghostland Observatory<p> 


	3. Nothing to Worry About

Thank you for the reviews! I suspect I won't be able to write much more until Thanksgiving break next week. It seems like all of my profs are trying to cram in as much as they can before we check out early for the holidays.

* * *

><p>Cameron burst into her sister's house, raced up the stairs, and threw open her bedroom door.<p>

"Geeze, B, would you knock?" Melanie cried from her seat on the floor. Her back was against her bed, a nail polish brush in one hand, the bottle in the other. "You made me totally screw up my big toe."

"Here is your goddamn phone. This is the last time I ever go anywhere or do anything for you," Cameron yelled, slamming the damned Blackberry onto her sister's bed.

"What crawled up your butt?" asked Melanie, ignoring her little sister's anger and returning her attention back on her toes.

"Fucking vampires, Melanie! A fucking vampire!"

"Will you shut up? Jackson will hear you! Thanks to your trash mouth, he got in trouble at school this morning for saying the "C" word," said Melanie, shooting her sister a dirty look.

"I have never said that word in front of him! Even I have boundaries," Cameron defended herself.

"No, he said crap," Melanie corrected.

"Oh, then who gives a shit? That hardly counts as a bad word," Cameron scoffed. Every time she got with her sister, it was like everything vanished and they would argue about the most inconsequential things, just for the sake of arguing.

"It makes me look bad as a mother. Now, what about a vampire?"

"I went and got your phone and got assaulted by some asshole vampire," to emphasize her point, Cameron pulled her hair away from her neck to show her sister the fading red marks that Eric's hands had left around her throat.

"Fuck! What did you do?" Melanie cried, abandoning her polish and scrambling towards her little sister to examine her neck.

"Why is it always my fault?" Cameron swatted Melanie's hands away and back up from her, a scowl firmly settings its self on her face.

"Sometimes you say things you shouldn't. I'm sorry, but you can be rude. Maybe you offended him. Vampires can be very vain," Melanie explained, as if she were speaking to Jackson.

"It's very possible that I said something that led him to believe that I was some sort of undercover narc," Cameron admitted.

"Cameron, you know you have a bad sense of humor that people don't understand," Melanie chided.

"I wasn't joking. I just had a feeling, and said something about it," Cameron explained, sitting on the edge of her sister's bed.

"Honey, we talked about those feelings. Do we need to call Doctor Marsh? I knew you never should have stopped your meds. I think I saved them, though," Melanie instantly switched into mother mode at the mentioning of her sister's supposed psychosis.

"Mel, I'm fine. I have just been reading a lot of articles about crackdowns on vampire business owners. No big deal," Cameron did her best to downplay her sister's worry, and it seemed to work.

Not wanting to add to her sister's worry, or attempt to reason with her, Cameron left her sister and stalked off up to her apartment above the garage.

Thoughts of the blonde vampire invaded Cameron's mind as she sat quietly in her apartment. She didn't want to think of him, or his attempt at a deal. She knew she had gotten the sweet end of the deal, and that she would most likely not have any visions concerning him, therefore not having any reason to call him. But she also knew that he seemed like the kind of guy that would not let go of something or someone so easily. She had a feeling that she would see him again, and she didn't need some psychic ability for that.

The whole situation was a little disturbing to Cameron. She had never disliked vampires, having never met any. She was a liberal, and had always voted in favor of the VRA and the AVL, or any other vampire related legislation, but she had never actually met one.

Then there was the whole issue of the odd vision she had inside the office of Fangtasia. She had seen Eric sitting on the very same couch she was currently on, holding and petting her cat. He had acted like a completely different person in the vision. He was calm, almost sweet. The brief amount of banter that Cameron had witnessed between her vision-self and the vampire hinted at some sort of intimacy between the two. There had to have been, for him to be welcome in her home, to joke with him.

Cameron threw her head back over the edge of the couch and stared up at the ceiling, sighing heavily. She pulled a throw pillow over her face and crossed her arms over it, and screamed into it.

Feeling slightly better, but still frustrated, Cameron threw the pillow across the room, narrowly missing a lamp.

Bo appeared from behind the television stand and bounded for the door. The cat pawed at the door, looking at the door, then Cameron, and back. Sighing, Cameron heaved herself off the couch to let Bo outside. She opened the door wide enough for Bo to slip out and went to shut it, but something caught her eye at the last minute.

"Oh hell no!" Cameron exclaimed, opening the door all the way to see Eric casually leaning against the porch railing. He smiled charmingly.

"Hello to you, too," he said with a slight chuckle.

"What?" Cameron demanded rudely. She made sure to not cross the threshold of her home.

"I feel like we got off on the wrong foot," said Eric, pushing himself off of the railing and moving to stand as close as he could to the front door.

"I thought we agreed that I would call if I saw anything," Cameron reminded him.

"Does that not mean I can pay you a visit?" he asked with a mock look of hurt that slowly morphed into an amused smile.

This Eric was vastly different from the Eric Cameron had met earlier that evening, and his ability to switch personalities like that was frightening.

"So what do you want?"

"Invite me in and find out," he smirked. Cameron laughed once and stared at him pointedly.

Eric returned the stare. He took a step closer to her and looked deeply into her eyes. Cameron was instantly drawn in, unable to look away. Confidant that he had her full attention, Eric spoke.

"Invite me in," he spoke slowly and deliberately.

It was as if Cameron's mind was no longer her own. Eric's words were bending her will. She was vaguely aware that she was being glamoured, but his influence was much too strong this time. Her own consciousness slowly took hold once again, but not before she uttered the words he was waiting to hear.

"Come in." Cameron blinked several times as she returned to herself. Eric had already rushed into her home, and standing in the center of the living area, taking in the details of the room.

Cameron swore under her breath and shut the door behind as she joined Eric. He must have tried harder, exerted more force, than he did the last time he attempted to glamour her. Though, Cameron felt that she was at least able to give him a harder time of doing so. She had deflected his attempts once, and she had a feeling she could do it again if she needed to.

"Tell me; why do you live here? The house seems large enough for the three of you," Eric observed, turning his attention from the pictures hanging above the sofa to Cameron.

"Because I wanted to," she answered coldly. She was angry at the vampire for glamouring her to invite him into her home. She knew she had the power to rescind the invitation, but she was too curious to find out what exactly he was expecting from his visit to use it so soon. Her tone seemed to amuse him.

"Don't get along with your sister?" he guessed.

"No."

"She doesn't understand you."

"And I suppose you do?" Cameron scoffed.

"I know more than she does. I know that you won't have any useful visions if you never see me," Eric explained, a triumphant smirk appearing. Cameron was disappointed to find out that he knew more about her ability than she originally thought, giving him the upper hand.

"Like I said before, useful visions are few and far between. I'll see more of your wardrobe or you tying your shoes than anything else. What I see isn't even all that reliable. Sometimes what I see never happens. Most of the time I just get feelings, anyway. Actual visions don't happen as often as you'd hope," said Cameron in an effort to disinterest Eric in her abilities.

"Then I would try to remedy that," said Eric, turning his attention from the items on her desk surface to look directly at her.

"It doesn't work that way. You can't threaten visions out of me. I'm not dumb enough to lie to a vampire."

"Does that mean I frighten you?" He smirked devilishly. Something told Cameron that he enjoyed playing the villain.

"Not at the moment. But I'm not naïve enough to think that you're not a threat just because you think I'm somehow useful," replied Cameron.

"I'm glad to know that you know where we stand."

It wasn't long until Eric seemed to decide that he had made his point, and moved to the door to make his exit.

"Do stay in touch," he said with a smile, then exited the apartment. Cameron ran to the door and peered out into the night. He had vanished.

"I rescind my invitation!" She shouted at the empty back yard for good measure. He couldn't have gone too far, and probably heard her. If he hadn't, Cameron wondered if it would count. It couldn't hurt, and hopefully it would prevent him from barging in to her apartment whenever he pleased.

* * *

><p>"Nothing to Worry About" by Peter Bjorn and John<p> 


	4. Psychotic Girl

I kind of lied to everyone that I told the next chapter would be out next week. But I figured that posting _earlier_ would make up for the lie.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Keep them coming! I'm narcissistic like that.

* * *

><p>It had been days since Cameron had last seen any sign of any vampires. Though, Cameron sometimes thought she would have preferred Eric over her sister. He was at least something fun to look at. Melanie was just a bother who did nothing but nag.<p>

Cameron was giving her older sister the silent treatment. Melanie had volunteered her sister to coach Jackson's soccer team without her consent. Since the argument following the news, Cameron locked herself in her apartment and avoided her sister at all costs.

The sun had just set, and Bo was scratching at the door again. Cameron looked up from her book and stared at the door, trying to decide what to do. She couldn't tell if Bo simply wanted out, or if he was trying to tell her something, like the last time Eric showed up on her doorstep.

Bo was relentless in his scratching and mewing, and eventually got his way.

"Damn cat," Cameron muttered as she unraveled herself from her cocoon on the couch and went to let him out. She opened the door a crack, just wide enough to peak through, and when she was satisfied that there were no vampires on her porch, she let the cat out. "Seriously, Bo, you have a litter box. No dead things tonight, please."

"Talking to your cat?" Cameron jumped out of her skin at the unexpected sound of Eric's voice. She turned around to face him with a look of pure anger.

"You need a cat bell," She said, pointing a finger in his face. He grabbed her finger, and Cameron swore he was about to break it. His face remained stoic.

"Cameron!" At the sound of Melanie's voice, Eric immediately released Cameron's hand and vanished. Cameron didn't have time to make sense of him before she whipped her head towards the back door of the main house, where her sister stood.

"What?" she yelled back.

"Can we talk?" Cameron rolled her eyes, but said nothing. She imagined Melanie sighing, as she closed the back door and cross the yard towards the bottom of the staircase.

"Stay there," Cameron warned. She was sure Eric was still around, and didn't want her sister getting involved, no matter how angry she was with her at the moment.

"Fine. I get it. You've been giving me the silent treatment for days. But really? You're acting like a huge baby. Jackson loves spending time with you, and I really thought this would be a good thing for you! You have nothing going on in your life. You don't have a job or anyone to keep you busy, so I thought I'd help out a little. And you're totally qualified for this! Who better to coach soccer than little miss college athlete? You used to be amazing, and now you can pass that on to Jackson and his friends. If it makes you feel better, you get to pick the team name and colors," Melanie talked and talked, and Cameron honestly thought she'd never shut up. Her sister really didn't seem to get it.

"Thanks for pointing out that I'm single and unemployed. And what do you mean "used to be"? I'm still awesome, and as if you would even know. You never went to a single one of my games, not since I was thirteen," Cameron pointed out. In the heat of the argument, she had momentarily forgotten about Eric hiding out in the shadows somewhere.

"I'm sorry I don't like sitting on metal bleachers in the dead of winter!"

"We lived in Dallas! It never gets below thirty degrees there!" Cameron retorted.

"I visited you every day in the hospital!"

"Don't bring that up! And mom made you!" Cameron switched into panic mode. She hoped her sister would immediately drop the subject. Melanie had already said too much, and Cameron prayed that Eric wouldn't broach the topic with her later.

"No! You never want to talk about it! I worry about you, Cam," Melanie softened her voice and made to come up the stairs.

"Just stop."

"No, I've been thinking about what you said the other day, about the vampire bar and getting those feelings. Look, I called Doctor Marsh, and he gave me the numbers of some doctors here in Shreveport, unless you want to drive to Dallas. Then we can visit dad!"

"Melanie! Shut up!"

"I'm not going to let my sister relapse! You and Jackson are all I have left!" Melanie was on the verge of tears, and Cameron wanted nothing more than for her to just go away.

"You have dad…" Cameron added.

"Last time we saw him, he thought I was a nurse. After mom died, and then Will… you're all I have left. And Jackson." Fat tears were rolling down Melanie's cheeks by the end of it, and Cameron was torn. She wanted to get rid of her sister and protect herself from Eric, and she wanted to comfort her.

"I promise you I'm fine. I'm not going anywhere. Physically or mentally. But right now I just really want to be alone. I'm working on applications," Cameron said, adding a last minute fib to please her sister.

"Applications?" Melanie sniffed.

"Yes. For jobs."

"Oh, well… I guess I'll leave you to it." Melanie wiped her eyes and flashed her younger sister one last parting smile before retreating back into the main house.

"That was interesting," Eric had reappeared almost as soon as the back door of the main house shut behind Melanie.

"What do you want?"

"It seems as though I picked the perfect night to pay you a visit. I've learned so many interesting things about you." Eric was smiling, and he seemed almost excited. Cameron scowled at him. Vampire or not, she was in a horrible mood, thanks to her sister.

"What do you want?" Cameron repeated.

"You weren't working on job applications," Eric pointed out her lie.

"No." She answered simply.

"Then why lie? Just tell her to leave," Eric suggested. Cameron wasn't sure why he was trying to give her advice, but she figured it was better than threats.

"It's her house. It's Melanie's world and I'm just living in it," Cameron deadpanned.

"And the hospital?" Cameron knew he would ask her about that. He knew that it was somehow linked to her visions, and Cameron knew that he would be quite interested in anything to do with them.

"I was fifteen and mentioned seeing something to my mother and next thing I know I'm in a hospital because they thought I was schizophrenic. For a while I believed it, too, but visions kept coming true." Cameron explained simply. The less detail, the better. Eric was silent. He was looking intently at her, appraising her.

"And you were a college athlete," he said, changing the subject. His eyes traveled up and down her body, making Cameron uncomfortable. "It shows." He smirked devilishly.

"Go longhorns," Cameron said unenthusiastically as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Eric was making her uncomfortable again, and he knew it. He even seemed to enjoy it.

"I haven't seen anything," Cameron said after a few minutes, breaking the silence.

"I know."

"How? Are you psychic too, now?" Cameron scoffed.

"We agreed that you would call if you saw anything. I know you would never break a bargain with me," Eric eplied, his tone sounded as if it carried a warning. The thought of disobeying Eric terrified Cameron. She hated how he had so much power over her.

"So… not to be rude, but why are you here?" Cameron figured being direct would garner the best results.

"We both know how your visions work," said Eric. Cameron wondered what exactly he meant, and how much he knew, but didn't ask. "I want you to start coming to Fangtasia."

"What?" Eric gave Cameron a pointed look, suggesting that he wasn't going to repeat himself.

Eric and Cameron stared each other down until Cameron sighed and crossed her arms.

"I can tell this is going to be fun…"

* * *

><p>"Psychotic Girl" by Black Keys<p> 


	5. Get Some

Another speedy update! Please review!

* * *

><p>As soon as the car came to a stop, Jackson fled the backseat of the Wrangler and bolted across the backyard and disappeared into the house.<p>

"Thanks for the help!" Cameron shouted after him as she slipped out of the driver's seat and slammed her door shut. She went to the back of the car, opened the trunk, and pulled out a net sack full of soccer balls and a stack of little yellow cones. As she moved, a lanyard hanging from her neck with a whistle attached to it bounced against her chest.

Cameron dragged the soccer balls into the garage and stalked up the stairs to her apartment. She had survived her first practice session with the team of fifteen eight year olds. She had been beaten down for an hour and a half.

As she collapsed on her couch, startling Bo, she groaned loudly and kicked off her shoes over the arm rest. Cameron relaxed instantly and dozed off moments later.

Cameron was woken up by the front door opening. Her apartment was pitch black, but she could make out the tall form of Eric standing in her doorway. He closed the door behind him and strode across the room to where Cameron was sitting up from her interrupted nap.

He hadn't bothered to turn on the lights on his way over, but just enough moonlight seeped through the open blinds to cast dramatic shadows over his face. His sharp bone structure was exaggerated in the dim lighting, though Cameron decided that the nighttime suited him.

Eric's lips twisted into a smile as he sunk down into the couch, dangerously close to Cameron. He reached out and easily pulled her onto his lap, though she didn't put up a fight. They gazed into each other's eyes momentarily, until Eric leaned forward and kissed her. Cameron's arms slid around his neck as his hands grabbed her hips.

Eric continued to kiss Cameron, his hands sliding up her sides and under her shirt. He pushed the material up, forcing her to lift her arms, and pulled her shirt off. He threw it across the room, and his hands went back to roaming her torso. Cameron grabbed fistfuls of his t-shirt and it soon joined her own on the floor on the other side of the room.

In a blur, Cameron was thrown down on her bed, and Eric was on top of her in an instant. His hurried kisses slowed to a more deliberate pace. The hand that was buried in her hair untangled itself and traveled down the length of her body, towards the waistband of her athletic shorts.

Eric's hand stopped at her stomach, though, and started to knead her flesh with his long fingers. Confused, Cameron pulled away and broke the kiss to see what he was doing.

Instead of Eric or her bedroom, Cameron saw her living room and Bo. It had been a dream.

"Christ! You fat cat," she swore as she pushed Bo off of her stomach, interrupting his kneading, sat up, and rubbed her eyes. Her apartment was completely dark. Through her still blurry vision, she could just make out the time on the microwave in the kitchenette.

"Fuck me! It's already eleven!" Cameron jumped to her feet and ran into her bedroom. She barely had time to think about the dream, or possible vision, as she hurried to get ready.

The last time Eric had visited her, they came up with a schedule for her visits to Fangtasia. Three times a week, for at least an hour, during business hours. In a mad rush, Cameron threw off her athletic shorts and t-shirt, and struggled with the sports bra, and pulled on her last clean pair of jeans and a fitted, forest green t-shirt. It wasn't exactly a club outfit, but it would have to do. She hadn't been to a club properly in well over a year.

As Cameron slipped on a pair of well worn boat shoes, she paused. She remembered how impeccably dressed the female vampire who let her go through the lost and found box was, and how sleek and polished Eric always looked. They probably wouldn't appreciate her lack of effort.

Cameron swore as she kicked off the boat shoes and tore through her closet, looking for her pair of gladiator sandals. She cared enough about her appearance to forgo the boat shoes, but not enough to put on heels.

As she was finally leaving her bedroom, she walked past the mirror hanging above her dresser.

"For fuck's sake!" Cameron muttered under her breath as she stopped, again, to pull her hair down from the messy bun she had sported during soccer practice. Her dark brown hair was a complete mess. Brushing it just made it frizz out, and she didn't have time to straighten or curl it. As her nimble fingers quickly began work on a fishtail braid, Cameron assessed her face. She had dark circles under her eyes and a zit forming on her chin. As soon as she expertly finished the braid, she dabbed concealer on her face, nearly choked in a cloud of powder, and risked poking out her eyes with the mascara wand.

Just as she was reaching towards the dish of earrings on the dresser, she wondered why she was putting in so much effort. It wasn't as if she was going to the club to pick up a man, or to try and fawn over all of the vampires. She planned on ordering cranberry juice and sitting in a corner by herself so that she could play word games on her phone until her hour was up.

"Fucking vampires," Cameron swore again as she put in small gold studs in the shape of leaves. Finally satisfied, Cameron grabbed a clutch, shoved her I.D., cash, phone, and a tube of lip gloss into it, and raced down the stairs to her car. She drove borderline recklessly to the downtown area as she stole quick glances at the map on her phone.

The parking lot in front of Fangtasia was nearly full, and Cameron had to park in a dark corner, making her feel very uncomfortable. She jogged across the lot, weaving between parked cars, until she made it to the back of the line of people waiting to get inside. Peering around the line, Cameron saw Pam standing by the door, hands on her hips, standing stoically still. She was wearing a revealing black patent leather dress and crimson pumps that looked like weapons.

Pam seemed to notice Cameron poking her head around the crowd and locked eyes with her. She lifted a hand from her hip and curled a single finger, beckoning her forward. Cameron hesitated, but left her spot in line and walked up to the vampire.

"You're late," Pam drawled, looking Cameron up and down with a raised eyebrow, taking in her outfit. "You do know where you are, don't you?"

"Yeah, sorry, I was running late. I won't bore you with the details," Cameron shrugged.

"Thank god. Now go, he's waiting," said Pam. Cameron didn't waist anymore time. The idea of Eric waiting was worrisome. She had a feeling he didn't like waiting.

As Cameron walked towards the door, she could hear a few people in line start to protest.

"How come she gets to go in?"

"You said it was full to capacity!"

"She aint even dressed right!"

"Everyone shut the fuck up!" Cameron heard Pam yell at the crowd just before the door swung shut behind her.

Fangtasia was a completely different place at night, full of people. Nearly everyone was dressed in black or leather. She lights were dimmed, some weird goth, electronic music was playing. Did vampires really listen to that kind of music? Cameron got the feeling that it was more for show, that humans expected vampires to listen to it. That kind of thinking explained why so many humans were dressed up as if they were at am S&M convention

Cameron awkwardly forced her way through the crowd, doing her best to not touch anyone. She didn't want to see anything connected to these people, and most of them just plain creeped her out.

Once at the bar, Cameron ordered her cranberry juice and found a little table to sit at in the corner, just like she planned. She remembered that Pam had said Eric was waiting for her, but she didn't know if that meant she was supposed to go find him. A quick scan of the club, and she assumed he was in his office. Cameron tried to turn her body so she wouldn't have to look at the stage where a woman wearing a fur vest and black booty shorts, and nothing else, danced.

Most people in the bar didn't pay Cameron much mind. She didn't fit in, and was clearly not there to mingle. She contentedly played games on her phone and sipped at her juice until out of her peripheral vision, she noticed someone come to stand directly in front of her. She set down her glass and looked up from her phone to see Eric. His hands were in the pockets of his leather jacket, and his face was expressionless.

"Having fun?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, great place you have here," Cameron said sarcastically, gesturing to the strange crowd. Eric kept his eyes trained on her.

"Have anything to report?" he looked at her expectantly. Cameron briefly wondered if he would be able to tell if she was lying. The more she thought about the dream she had of herself and Eric, the less sure she was that it was just a dream. It was difficult to tell. She hoped that's all it was, though. As devastatingly handsome as he was, Cameron wasn't convinced that getting involved with him in such a way would be a good idea. Of course, she wanted to. Who wouldn't? He was sex on legs. And she knew he would be amazingly, mind-blowingly, absolutely perfect, in bed. But she didn't want to take the risk to find out for herself.

Cameron had to tear her eyes away from him in order to collect her thoughts, and stop undressing him with her eyes.

"Nope," she answered simply. She grabbed at her drink and clamped her mouth over the straw to keep herself from saying anything else.

Eric looked down at her for a long moment, nodded in acceptance, and left. Cameron sighed and briefly considered buying a stronger drink, something with alcohol in it.

The rest of the hour went by without incident. Everyone stayed away from her, and she definitely stayed away from the crowd. Every once in a while her mind would wander off to the dream she had earlier that night, but Cameron did her best to not take it too seriously. Sometimes visions didn't come true. Though, based off of how good Eric looked without a shirt on, Cameron wasn't too sure if she didn't want it to come true.

* * *

><p>"Get Some" by Lykke Li<p> 


	6. Frayed

Sooo sorry for the wait! The past few weeks have been busy, and finals are coming up. In fact, I finished this up when I should have been studying for my psychology test...

This chapter starts out with just a lot of background-type stuff. This isn't as long as I wanted it to be, sorry. But better than nothing, I suppose.

Thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming :)

* * *

><p>Cameron had gotten through her first few weeks of visiting Fangtasia successfully. Or at least she had in her own opinion. She had managed to get through each night without speaking to anyone but Pam, the bartender, and Eric if he was there. She had yet to have any visions, though.<p>

Despite her lack of visions, Cameron didn't worry. Dry spells were normal, and usually welcome. They made her feel normal. Cameron had seen a lot of things that she wished she hadn't.

Eric had seemed to busy with something, which was just fine with Cameron. The busier he was, the less time he had to bother her. Keeping up with her nephew's soccer team had been draining enough that she didn't need a nagging vampire on her back, either.

Though, a small part of Cameron missed seeing his face. She didn't exactly want a relationship with the guy, but a girl could dream. Fortunately, she hadn't had any more steamy dreams, either. Life had almost gone back to normal, and at times she would completely forget about vampires and visions.

It was one of those rare days when Cameron had neither soccer practices or mandatory Fangtasia visits, when she could finally lay around her apartment all day and do nothing. Cameron had slept on, taken a quick jog around the neighborhood, and spent the rest of the morning watching The Discovery Channel with Bo in her lap. He was an affectionate cat, and was Cameron's only friend besides her sister.

Cameron had had plenty of friends back in Dallas. Despite her supposed psychosis, Cameron had been a normal teenage girl. She was athletic and lived in a good neighborhood. She went to exclusive private schools her entire life, did well in school, and got a partial athletic scholarship to the University of Texas in Austin. She wasn't exactly the social butterfly that Melanie was, but Cameron did well enough.

Melanie was the pageant princess up until the age of twelve when it wasn't cool anymore. She took up student governments and social clubs disguised as charities that would look good on her resume. Melanie was six years older than Cameron. The divorce of their parents made them closer than the probably would have been otherwise. The death of their mother only further solidified that relationship.

When Cameron was still in middle school, Melanie had gone off to LSU and joined a sorority. She met Will at one of the Greek functions. They were married right after their graduation, or at least it seemed that fast. He was from a well-off family in Shreveport. He made a ton of money at his family's business and bought his growing family a large house with a large yard and a separate garage with living quarters above it.

Even though he was dead, Cameron still liked to blame Will for everything. If it hadn't been for him, Melanie wouldn't be alone in a huge house with an eight year old son in a strange city. If it weren't for him, Cameron wouldn't have had to quit her job (even though it was slowly killing her inside) and leave her life to move to another state. Cameron loved her sister, but knew living with her would be a big challenge.

Since their yelling match in the backyard, the sisters had been avoiding each other. When they were around each other, they were on eggshells, careful not to step on any toes. Melanie worried that too much stress on Cameron would cause a relapse of some sort.

Cameron was sitting in her usual corner of Fangtasia, sipping at her cranberry juice with a book in her lap.

"That must be a very interesting book," Cameron tore her eyes away from the pages of her book and looked up at Eric standing on the other side of the small table, his hands in his pants pockets.

"Oh, well, it's part of Oprah's book club, so it has to be, right?" Cameron shrugged, surprised that Eric was talking to her. For the most part, he usually left her alone when she was spending her one hour in the bar. Cameron got the feeling that he was busy with something, though what kept him busy she did not know nor care about. Proving to her sister that she wasn't slipping into psychosis and could function as a normal human being, all while dealing with the gaggle of Jackson's friends, was starting to take a toll on her.

"I take it you haven't seen anything of interest," Eric continued, transitioning into the real reason why he came over to the table.

"No, I would have told you. I know better than to lie to you," Cameron explained.

"How long have you been coming here?" Eric asked, his face was void of expression, which greatly unnerved Cameron. She didn't like that she couldn't read him. She didn't know what to expect from him, and chose her words carefully.

"A few weeks."

"Three weeks tonight," he corrected her.

"Sounds right."

"Let's take this into my office," Eric turned on his heel and strode into his office. Cameron collected her things, abandoned the glass of cranberry juice on the table, and dashed after him. As soon as she was in, he slammed the door behind her and moved to lean against his desk, which was covered in clutter.

"You should organize your desk," Cameron offered awkwardly. Eric was staring at her silently, and it was all she could think to say. She immediately regretted it, though. Eric crossed his armed over his chest. His expression subtly morphed into irritation.

"I'm starting to grow impatient." Cameron sighed. She knew where he was going, and didn't exactly know how to continue to defend herself. She wasn't exactly upset that she hadn't been having any visions; she welcomed their absence. But with a strong and scary vampire demanding them, much more than a sense of normalcy was at stake.

Stake. That would solve the problem. Though Cameron doubted she would ever be able to get near Eric with one in hand and survive. Besides, she didn't really want to kill him. He was annoying, but he certainly didn't deserve death. Again.

"Look, Eric, it doesn't work that way. You can't threaten them out of me," Cameron defended herself. She felt like she was starting to sound like a broken record.

In an instant Eric was standing but a few inches away, staring menacingly down at her. He was trying to intimidate her. Without thinking, Cameron took a step back.

"I don't think you realize what sort of situation you're in," he warned.

"Fuck you, I don't need this shit! I get shit from Melanie all the damn time. Cameron, Get a job, you don't do anything with your life, you need to keep your mind engaged or else you'll go nuts again, you're a bad influence on Jackson, don't swear so much! Now I have you on my back! Cameron, tell me the future, have visions, let me stalk you and harass you, and force you to come to this tacky bar! If everyone would just shut the fuck up, and give me some room to breathe, goddamnit! I'm not a fucking magic eight ball," Cameron snapped. She was breathing heavily by the end of her rant, and was shocked that Eric had let it go on that long. Eric surprised her by wearing an amused sort of expression, though she didn't trust it.

"You are quite spirited," he commented dryly.

"Thanks," Cameron huffed. Her stomach dropped as the amused expression on Eric's face vanished, becoming stony and cold once again.

"You have a rare gift. People such as yourself are hard to come by nowadays. Because of your potential, I will give you one week."

"One week for what?" Cameron asked, not sure where he was going.

"To have another one of your visions," he clarified as he turned to go and sit behind his desk.

"What happens if I don't? The whole point of me freaking out like that was that I can't just turn this on or off. It doesn't work on command," said Cameron. She really was getting tired of trying to explain that to him.

"If I were you, I would do my best to make sure that I had a vision before Friday," said Eric, leaning back in his desk chair casually. He didn't give her a direct answer, but Cameron had a feeling that she knew what he meant. Sometimes she forgot she was dealing with a powerful and dangerous vampire. "You may leave now."

"Wait! OK, I had one vision. But it's really not significant. It was just you," Eric looked interested and urged her to continue, "You were in my apartment. You were sitting on the couch, petting my cat, and then you changed a light bulb in my closet." Cameron rushed over her words. Her mind was clouded by fear and a sense of urgency, as she tried to filter out the more intimate details of the first vision. She didn't mention the dream she had of him, either.

Eric continued to stare at her, un-amused.

"One week."

"But that was a vision," Cameron started to protest, but Eric held up a hand, silencing her.

"One week for a useful vision." Eric then motioned for her to leave the office. In a daze, Cameron rushed out of the office and drove home as fast as she could. She ran a red light and completely ignored the stop sign at the end of her street in her mad race home, and then nearly took out the garage door as she almost failed to stop her Jeep in time.

Cameron was thoroughly worried by Eric's deadline.

* * *

><p>"Frayed" by The Naked and Famous<p> 


	7. Ain't No Easy Way

Cameron spent her one week desperately willing herself to have a vision. She did everything she could think of, including meditation, binge drinking, spending more time around Fangtasia. She even seriously considered trying to get her hands on some absinthe or peyote. She had read somewhere once, that peyote was used in American Indian rituals to bring on hallucinations and visions. Though, Cameron wasn't sure where to go to illegal drugs, and with her luck, she would probably end up buying from an undercover cop. Plus, she wasn't entirely sure how hallucinogenic substances would affect her.

Melanie wasn't much help. She seemed oblivious to the amount of stress Cameron was under. All she did was nag her about Jackson's soccer team. The two practices that the team did have that week were complete jokes. Cameron would just set up simple drills and let the kids have at it while she would pace up and down the sidelines, willing herself to have a vision. Either that or make them scrimmage the entire hour and a half. She had bigger issues to worry about than a soccer team of eight year old boys.

By Wednesday, the worry had finally started to affect her sleep. An intense anxiety took hold mid afternoon on Thursday. A little after midnight that same day, Cameron was almost hysterical. She honestly tried. It wasn't as if she was deliberately trying to hold anything back from Eric. She wondered if her fear as acting as a block, if the pressure was really getting to her and acting as some sort of vision retardant.

By Friday morning, Cameron had passed out asleep on her bed with Bo curled up against her. Sometimes it seemed like the cat could tell when she was troubled or needed comforting.

Cameron didn't wake up until late that afternoon. Lying still in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, while absent-mindedly stroking Bo, Cameron had almost forgotten about her troubles, or what day it was. As soon as she did remember, she sighed despondently. There was nothing she could do. There was no way she could face off against a vampire. And she had to go to Fangtasia. She couldn't skip out on their meeting. He would find her, and if he came to the house, Cameron worried about what would happen to Melanie and Jackson, even Bo. She liked to think that he would leave them alone, since they weren't involved in any way, but she couldn't take any chances.

Besides her father, who hardly counted, Melanie and Jackson were Cameron's only family. They had limited extended family. Her mother had been an only child, her grandparents were all dead, and her only cousin was at least fifteen years older than Melanie.

Cameron wanted to start crying again, but did her best to stay strong and keep the tears at bay. For some reason, crying felt wrong. Crying meant that she had given up. Of course there was nothing to do but give up, but crying about giving up was somehow associated with complacency or defeat. Just because Eric was probably going to kill her, or at least brutally punish her, it didn't mean that she was OK with that fact.

Cameron eventually rolled off of the bed and took a long shower. She slowly got dressed and ready. Even though she was essentially going out to meet her death, Cameron still felt obligated to continue to dress up. She didn't think she could take the look Pam would give her if she saw her wearing jeans and a tee again. IF she was going to die, she would at least look good.

Finally dressed in wedge heels, black jeans, and a black tunic, Cameron went downstairs and sat in her Jeep until it was time to go. She didn't want to see Melanie or Jackson before she left.

Cameron hadn't realized she was wearing all black until she finally reached towards the ignition with her keys to start the car. She laughed humorlessly. She was dressed like she was going to a funeral.

She drove as slowly as she could, sometimes going under the speed limit, on her way to Fangtasia. She even took the long way, but of course she eventually pulled into the parking lot of Fangtasia. There was an empty spot right in front. After parking, Cameron sat in her car, taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself. The bar entrance was directly in her view. She could clearly see all of the fangbangers dressed in leather and black waiting in line, Pam standing stoically with her arms crossed by the door, glancing down at I.D.'s and greeting patrons.

Cameron took another deep breath and closed her eyes as she put her forehead against her steering wheel. She was putting off the inevitable.

With one last sigh, Cameron lifted her head and opened her eyes. Her hands flew up to protect her eyes from the intensity of a car's headlights, but the light didn't go away. Lowering her hands a bit, Cameron saw that there was no car, but it was daytime. Looking around, the parking lot was empty. There was graffiti covering the facade of the building and the fences around it. The lot and surrounding area seemed different somehow.

Cameron caught the door of Fangtasia opening out of her peripheral vision and quickly turned her attention to it, to see Eric walking out into the daylight. Shocked and unsure what to do, Cameron continued to watch as Eric tentatively walked out into the sun unharmed. She moved forward in her seat, eager to find out what was going on as Eric moved about the parking lot. Finally, he came to stand directly in front of the car, facing Cameron. He was staring right at her, though she knew he really couldn't see her. She wasn't really there.

Slowly, Eric's skin started to react to the skin. It was a frightening sight for Cameron. He was burning slowly. Whatever he had done to protect himself was starting to wear off. He remained still, though. Cameron wanted to shout at him, force him back inside, something. She didn't want to see him burn.

Behind Eric, the door opened again. A man, much shorter and older than Eric, walked out. He looked absolutely thrilled. He was talking, though Cameron couldn't hear him. He finally came to stand next to Eric, who instantly chained himself to the man with silver. Cameron could see the burns and smoke the metal bindings were creating on both of their wrists. This other man was also a vampire.

Cameron continued to watch in horror as they both continued to burn directly in front of her. They eventually collapsed onto the pavement of the parking lot, and continued to be burned alive.

The sound of a car horn jolted Cameron out of her trance. She was staring at the exact same spot, only she was back in the dark parking lot full of cars and people.

Without thinking, Cameron threw herself out of the car and ran as fast as she could through the parking lot. Pam let her run by, and Cameron ignored the typical protests of patrons being forced to stand in line. Ever since the first night, Pam didn't bother asking for Cameron's I.D.

Cameron pushed her way through the crowd. Only yards away from the office door, Cameron mis-stepped and tumbled to the ground. She had rolled her ankle. She recovered quickly, though. She was too desperate to get to Eric's office, to make sure he was alright, not burned, or didn't have any plans of burning, to care about her ankle.

She ignored the people who came to her aid and pushed passed them on her way to the office. She rushed into the office, slamming the door behind her on accident.

"Eric!" she cried breathlessly. He looked up from his work on the desk with an amused expression.

"I could get used to you saying my name like that," he said slyly.

"Are you OK?" she asked, ignoring his lewd remark. He looked at her curiously.

"Why do you ask?"

"I saw you burning," she said, still slightly out of breath after her mad dash and her fall in a crowded room. What she said seemed to catch his full attention.

"You had a vision," he said. It wasn't quite a question, but more of an affirmation.

"Yeah. Just now," she said, shifting her weight to her good foot to relieve the pain that was starting to permeate her rolled ankle.

"That was very lucky of you," he said.

"So, tell me why I was burning," he encouraged her to elaborate.

"I saw you walk out of the bar, stand in the parking lot in full daylight. At first you were fine, but then you slowly started to burn. Then this other vampire came out and you made him burn with you," Cameron explained in almost a single breath.

Eric took his time to consider her words before finally speaking. "You saw the past," he said.

"What?" Cameron balked. She had seen fragments of the past before. It was like seeing a lingering feeling or even that was attached to a certain place or object. Avoiding touching personal items that belonged to other people or being in important places usually prevented that from happening, though.

"About a month ago. The other vampire you saw has been taken care of," he said vaguely. Cameron didn't think he was going to share the full story with her, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to hear it anyway.

"So you're fine," she confirmed. He nodded smugly.

"I do appreciate your concern for me, though," he said, smiling a bit wickedly.

"It counts, though, right?" Cameron didn't care that he was being a bit flirtatious. She just wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to die.

"Technically, yes. Though, it wasn't what I was hoping for." Cameron sighed in relief.

Unable to stand anymore, based on both her emotional and physical exhaustion, Cameron limped over to the couch against the wall and slumped down in it. She took a deep breath stretched her legs out.

"Your ankle is swelling," Eric observed.

"I don't wear heels often. I tripped while trying to run in here and make sure you weren't about to burn to death in the sun," she explained as she leaned forward to pull off the wedge heel on her left foot to examine the swelling of that ankle.

"Do you need medical attention?" he asked, though Cameron could tell he didn't really care.

"I need a fucking drink."

* * *

><p>Two songs this chapter! Aka I couldn't decide which one.<p>

"Ain't No Easy Way" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

"The Sun Ain't Shining No More" by the Asteroids Galaxy Tour


	8. Fire Dies Down

Here's a nice, long chapter! Enjoy it, because I'm not quite sure how the next few weeks will play out. Finals are coming up, and I can't quite decide if I really need to devote a lot of time to studying yet.

Many thanks to DreamsForTheDead for her absolutely wonderful review. I'm still smiling!

* * *

><p>The vision, no matter how useless it was, seemed to prove to Eric that Cameron wasn't defective or useless. Even though she saw the past, Eric decided to keep her around. She was interesting to him. He had limited experience with people like her, clairvoyants, but she was different from all the others. Her abilities were unique. She not only saw flashes of the future, but could also see the past, or pick up on residual feelings or emotions attached to a place or thing.<p>

Not to mention, she was spirited and swore more than a sailor. She reminded Eric of someone. IF he was being truly honest with himself, it was for that reason that he let her go.

Once Cameron's obligated one hour at Fangtasia was up, Eric made Pam help her to her car. Pam remained silent, though Cameron could imagine the sorts of things she wanted to say out loud.

Once home, Cameron sat in her Jeep, in the complete dark, and stared at the staircase against the side of the garage forlornly. It would be a challenge to get up the steps without intense pain, but she wasn't about to call Melanie for help, or hobble into the main house. She somehow felt empowered by surviving the night, and thought that she didn't need help to get up a simple set of stairs.

Cameron pulled off her shoes, stuffed them in her purse that was much too small, and practically dragged herself up the stairs and into her apartment above the garage. After changing into sweat pants and an old tee from her high school days, Cameron plugged in a heating pad and began a hunt for pain killers. As she moved about the apartment, Bo followed her dutifully.

Once both woman and cat were settled in bed, Cameron applied the heating pad to her ankle and gulped down three ibuprofens. Settling back into the pillows, Cameron pulled Bo into her lap and held up close. Normally he would have bitten her hand for manhandling him, but Bo was in a merciful mood, as if he could tell she was emotionally drained.

"Eric Northman is a motherfucking sociopath, cat. Don't get involved with vampires," Cameron mumbled to her cat. She normally didn't talk to her cat, but since he was the only one around, Cameron took advantage of his companionship.

About an hour of lying in bed and messing with the cat, Cameron got up, yanked the cord of the heating pad out of the wall, and headed into the kitchenette to make a bag of ice for her ankle.

Cameron peered into the freezer with a frown. She was out of ice, and had no icepacks. The only thing in there was an old tub of ice cream that desperately needed to be thrown out.

After applying heat to the swelling, Cameron needed to apply ice. She had experienced plenty of sprained ankles, among various other injuries, and was practically a professional at treating them. If her ankle was going to heal quickly, she would need ice, which was in the main house.

Cameron swore to herself as she considered calling Melanie to bring her some. However, she didn't feel like explaining how she rolled her ankle, and a quick glance at the microwave told her it was much too late to call, and that she would wake up her sister. Resigned to the fact that she would have to go all the way down to the kitchen in the main house to get ice, Cameron hobbled over to the door.

As she looked up from shutting the door behind her, Cameron spotted Eric waiting at the base of the stairs, staring up at her.

"Oh fuck me," Cameron mumbled as she quickly opened the door and backed back into her apartment. Eric appeared at the top of the stairs and smiled at her.

"I could gladly make that dream come true," he said cheekily, smirking down at her. He really was much too tall.

"Clever. What do you want?" Cameron snapped. She had seen enough of him for the night, and had no patience left to deal with him.

"How is your ankle?" He asked, dropping the playful and flirtatious mood. Cameron almost believed that he was concerned.

"I took more than the prescribed amount of ibuprofen, so I'm good. I had a heating pad on it, and now it's time for ice. Which is in there," Cameron explained, pointing past Eric and towards the main house.

"I could fix it for you," he said.

"Besides being a vampire bar owner and sheriff of something, you're also a doctor?" Cameron scoffed.

"Vampire blood has powerful healing properties," he explained, ignoring Cameron's rudeness.

"No, I don't want V, which is illegal, by the way, Mister Sheriff," she said immediately.

"It's not illegal if I give it to you. It wouldn't be very smart of me to report myself, anyhow, would it?" Eric retorted.

"No," Cameron reaffirmed her decision, despite Eric's reasoning.

"It would instantly heal your ankle," he pressed.

"No."

"You might like it," he said with a devious smirk.

"No." Cameron had absolutely no intention of bowing.

Cameron noticed his expression change, and realized that he was preparing to glamour her.

"I don't want your blood, which is so creepy, by the way. And don't you dare fucking glamour me," she warned. The corners of Eric's mouth turned up slightly. He really should have killed Cameron by now, for her attitude and lack of respect. She didn't know how lucky she was.

"Don't knock it 'till you try it," he countered. The banter entertained him; it reminded Eric of how someone else used to stand up to him.

"With that logic, let's do meth, too! Now will you please leave so I can go get some ice," said Cameron, her good foot growing tired from carrying all of her weight.

"I don't see why I need to leave for that," he said, smiling again.

"Because I want you to."

"You're being a rude hostess."

"You think this is rude? Oh, I can be rude," said Cameron, mirroring his smile in a challenge.

"I don't think you want to do that," he suggested, or warned. His tone made it difficult for Cameron to decipher what exactly he meant. They stared each other down until Cameron finally broke.

"Look, it's been too long since I had heat on this; I need to get some ice."

"Then let's get you some ice," Eric replied. Cameron could almost swear that he was being sincere, too.

Giving him a careful look, Cameron finally stepped over the threshold and onto the wooden porch next to Eric. She waited for him to do something, but all he did was back out of the way. She carefully closed the door behind her and moved to descend the steps. Just as she lifted her foot, Cameron felt two cold, strong hands take hold of her waist, and in a flash of scenery, she was standing in front of the patio doors of the main house.

Cameron whipped her head around to Eric. His hands were still firmly planted on her waist, and he smiled down at her.

"Well, thanks," she mumbled. She hadn't expected him to help her.

Cameron found the spare key and unlocked the door. She wasn't concerned with Eric seeing where the key was kept, since he wouldn't have been able to get into the house without an invitation anyway.

She opened the door, careful not to make a sound that would wake up Melanie or Jackson. A few steps in, and Cameron turned to see if Eric was following her. She had stupidly forgotten that he couldn't. He was standing as close as he could to the open doorway, watching her.

"Um, you can come in," she whispered in a leap of faith. Surely if he was going to kill her, he would have done it by now. Lord knows she had given him plenty of opportunities.

It looked like Eric was about to take a step over the threshold, but changed his mind at the last minute. Cameron watched him quizzically.

"It's not your home to invite me into," he explained.

"Oh," said Cameron, "I'll be right back." She moved as quickly as she could into the kitchen, filled a plastic zip-lock bag with ice and returned to the back door where Eric was still waiting. Once the door was shut and locked, Eric took hold of her waist once again, and returned her to the spot in front of her apartment door above the garage.

"That's a neat trick," Cameron complimented, causing Eric to smile. He really could be a bit charming when he wasn't threatening her. Cameron liked this side of him better. She could actually see herself enjoying working with him if he acted this way more often. She sure as hell would be more willing, too.

"If you don't have some official vampire business that you need to rush off to, you're welcome to come inside," said Cameron. She didn't know why she invited him in. He had threatened to kill her on several occasions, and was forcing her to work for him. But Cameron knew that if she could get him to be more sympathetic, or somehow care about her just a bit more, that her working conditions would be much less hostile. And probably more conducive to having visions, even though she didn't exactly want that. If having visions meant pleasing Eric, then Cameron was all for it, because pleasing Eric meant not dying.

After hearing her invitation, Eric opened the door, grabbed Cameron again, and placed her on the couch. He then shut the door and turned on the lamp on the table next to the couch.

"Um, I hate to bother you, but can you get a dishtowel from the drawer next to the sink?" Cameron asked, looking up at Eric's tall form looming over her. He wordlessly vanished, then reappeared with a towel in hand. It was fascinating to Cameron how quickly he was able to move.

She took the towel from him, wrapped the bag of ice in it, propped her injured foot up on the coffee table, and set the package of ice on it.

"A little of my blood and you'll be as good as new," Eric said, returning to their previous argument, as he sat down in the desk chair across the room, facing her.

"I'm sure a lot of other things would happen, too. Am I right?" said Cameron, looking up at him from adjusting the bag of ice on her ankle.

"Nothing to be concerned about," he said nonchalantly.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. Save it for if I'm ever on the verge of death or something," joked Cameron. Though, given the situation, that was probably bound to happen.

"Noted," Eric said with a smirk. Yeah, she was going to regret saying that.

Cameron looked up again from adjusting her ice bag to look at Eric, who was watching her. As she took in and focused on his face, she was vaguely aware of movement in her peripheral vision. Snapping her attention from Eric to her surroundings, Cameron saw her apartment slowly morph into a different room.

The room was large and sunny. There were large windows, a wooden floor. The décor of the room was dated, like the way a grandmother would decorate her house. Through the window, Cameron saw a man walk by. She stood up from the couch, different from her own, and moved to look out the window. She could see a large porch, a sprawling lawn that was edged by forest, a gravel driveway, and about a dozen workmen moving around outside. There were a few trucks parked off to the side. One was a landscaper, another painters.

Startled by the sound of a door opening, Cameron looked to her right to see men walking through the front door of the house and through the foyer. They were all wearing work clothes, and carrying various tools or cans of paint. From what she could tell, the house was old, and seemed to be getting restored.

Cameron turned to look out the window again, and saw Eric sitting in her desk chair on the porch. The porch scene then slowly started to melt, and give way to reality. Cameron was back in her apartment, looking at Eric across the room. The old house, the green lawn, and the workmen all vanished.

"Did you just have a vision?" Eric asked, leaning forward in his seat as he seemed to examine her. Cameron nodded slowly, still trying to make sense of where she was and what she saw. Sometimes it took her a few minutes to process what she saw, and that she was back in reality once the vision was over.

"It was just a house," she finally said, once she was finally settled.

"Who's house?" Eric pushed.

"I don't know, I've never seen it before. It was old. There was a work crew restoring it, I think," Cameron spoke slowly as she tried to formulate the words to explain what she didn't even understand.

"Describe it," Eric demanded. Cameron wasn't sure, but she thought that maybe Eric knew what she was talking about.

"It was that old plantation style, lots of antiques. A porch, big yard and gravel driveway. I could see a forest, or at least a bunch of trees, at the edge of the lot. There were landscapers and painters, and some guys working inside the house, though it seemed mostly done," Cameron explained as best she could. Judging by the look on Eric's face, he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"You know this house?" she finally asked, after moments of silence as Eric contemplated her vision.

"Yes," he said simply.

"Is it your house?" she asked, trying to prod him into giving her more information.

"Not yet officially. I'm still waiting to close the deal," he answered.

"Really? It didn't seem your style," Cameron giggled, thinking of Eric surrounded by doilies and antiques.

"It's not for me. It belonged to a friend," he said, ignoring her immature laughter.

"What's with the past tense?"

"She's been missing." Eric looked like he was in his own little world, and Cameron wondered if that was how she looked when she had visions.

"Oh, that's too bad," Cameron said awkwardly, unsure of what to do or how to console him, or even if he needed to be consoled. "Is she like you? A vampire?"

"No, I'd say she's more like you," he answered.

"She can see the future?" Cameron asked hopefully. Her tone came out a bit more excited than she intended, but she had a good reason. Cameron had never met anyone like herself, or even heard of anyone.

"No, she's a telepath. Among other things," Eric trailed off. She was sure that he was leaving a lot out, but Cameron let it go. She had never heard of or imagined telepaths really existing, but she didn't press the matter anymore. If vampires existed, and if she had her ability, then surely other supernatural myths were true, too.

"Can I ask you something?" Cameron asked tentatively. Eric nodded, urging her to continue. "Are there other things like vampires? Like, other supernatural, mythical things."

"Yes," was Eric's simple answer. His concise tone indicated that he wasn't going to go any further into the subject.

"What about people like me?" Cameron asked, a bit hopeful, if she was being honest.

"Yes," Eric repeated. Cameron wanted him to elaborate but wasn't sure if he was in the talking mood anymore.

"Are there a lot? Are they organized? Like, what are the chances of me meeting someone else like me?" Her hope was evident as she spoke.

"You're the first I've met in years. Though, as I'm sure you can understand, many like to keep it private. The number of people like yourself could be huge, but we would never know because of that," Eric explained. Cameron understood, and almost expected that answer, but was still a little let down by his words.

As cliché as it sounded, nobody had ever really understood her or what she was going through, especially through her teenage years, making life just that much more difficult. It would have been nice to know of someone who was going through the same thing, to have someone to freely and openly talk to about it without having the fear of being misunderstood. Someone to commiserate with.

"You should take pride in your uniqueness," said Eric, as he stood from the desk chair.

"Are you going?" Cameron asked. Eric nodded as he moved towards the door.

"You know, if you were this decent more often, I think I wouldn't be so difficult when it came to visions. Stress and anxiety don't really help, and you really know how to make me feel those things," Cameron said, stopping Eric from opening the door and leaving.

"I'll try to remember that," he said with a smirk, his hand on the door knob.

"Good night, then."

"Good night," Eric replied before opening the door and disappearing into the night.

Eric really could be somewhat amiable. As Cameron moved into her bedroom with the melting bag of ice, she hoped that she would see more of Eric's nicer side in the future. As odd as it sounded, being with someone that wasn't an ordinary human made her feel more normal. Even though he was a vampire, Cameron felt like she fit in. She could be herself, visions included, and he didn't think she was crazy, or slipping into an episode of psychosis. He understood it, he accepted it, and he encouraged it.

* * *

><p>"Fire Dies Down" by Seabear<p> 


	9. Need to Know

For those of you that caught it early enough, I totally flubbed and accidentally posted some of my notes at the end of the last chapter. It's all fixed and has been taken care of, so no spoilers have gotten through. For those of you that didn't see it in time, NOTHING HAPPENED.

Another long one! Enjoy! And review!

* * *

><p>It had only taken a few days for Cameron's ankle to heal up. It had been a bit difficult to hide the injury from Melanie, but as per usual, she was too busy with her own problems to notice Cameron's.<p>

"Hey, I was thinking we should go visit dad soon. Jackson has a three day weekend coming up, and it's been forever since we've been back in Dallas," Melanie brought up the idea of a trip during one of their rare dinners together.

"Mommy, is Grandpa Bill gonna remember me? I've grown a lot! Will he remember me?" Jackson asked as he stirred around his spaghetti. It had been a while since he had seen his grandfather, and even though visiting Grandpa Bill was never a fun trip, the prospect of going someplace different was still exciting to the eight year old.

"I don't know how he could forget you, baby," Melanie told him with a caring smile.

"It's called Alzheimer's," Cameron grumbled. She couldn't understand why Melanie always tried to downplay their father's mental health. It would only serve to confuse or upset Jackson when his grandfather didn't remember him. The last time they had gone to visit him, he thought Melanie was a nurse, and didn't even acknowledge Cameron. Luckily, Jackson hadn't been on that trip. The last time he had seen his grandfather was before his father died. Cameron assumed that this trip was Melanie's feeble attempt at giving Jackson another male role model.

"Shh, don't say that around him," Melanie hissed at her younger sister.

"Say what? It's not a bad word! It happens to a lot of older people!" Cameron defended herself. Melanie gave Cameron a stern look in warning, which only garnered a glare from the younger sister.

"I don't want Jackson to know about these things yet," Melanie whispered.

"It's not like we're talking about sex or something, which by the way, isn't bad either. You can't teach him that these things are bad, or he's just gonna turn out sheltered and naïve," Cameron retorted.

"Would you shut up! I'm his mother, so I'll decide what I want to teach him," cried Melanie, getting defensive.

"Hey, Jack, why don't you go watch some TV," Cameron suggested to her nephew, who gladly jumped at the chance to watch television. It was like he wasn't even aware that they were fighting, which was probably for the best. He took hold of his plate with both hands, and walked as quickly as he could without slopping any spaghetti over the edges, into the other room.

"You're the one that asked me to move out here to help your raise your son after Will died! I'm just trying to help!" Cameron yelled. Since Jackson was out of the room, she felt comfortable expressing herself. It wasn't uncommon for her and her sister to yell at each other anyway.

"I asked you to come out here because I was all alone out here! Will's parents never liked me much, and without mom and dad, I had nobody else!" Melanie yelled back.

"What about your sisters?" Cameron asked, stabbing at her spaghetti with no intention of eating it.

"You're my sister!"

"No, you're Alpha Delta Epsilon Mega Bitch Club sisters," Cameron corrected. She took full stock in the sorority stereotype, and never liked any of Melanie's friends that she would bring home from school over summer breaks.

"Oh, excuse me, little miss hipster! I forgot you were too cool for school! All you ever cared about was soccer," said Melanie.

"What's wrong with that? And can we try to focus here?"

"You used to love soccer so much, and now what? You don't even care about Jackson's team!"

"I graduated from college and wasn't nearly good enough to go pro, dumbass!" Cameron was growing frustrated, and felt as if Melanie's focus was starting to shift onto all of her faults.

"Since you graduated, you haven't cared about anything! You don't have a job, you have no friends, no hobbies," Melanie listed.

"Fuck, have you ever considered becoming a psychologist? Or one of those people that tried to talk people down from jumping out of a window?" Cameron said sarcastically.

"Don't be a smartass. All I'm saying is that you have no passion. You need to do something with your life. You're 24; you shouldn't be living in an apartment above your sister's garage. You don't even pay rent," said Melanie.

"Do you want me to start paying rent? I can start paying rent, if you want," Cameron offered, though her tone was far from supportive.

"You don't even have a job, Cam," Melanie sighed.

"I've been saving my money since I was seventeen like it was the fucking Great Depression. If you recall, I was gonna go to Asia, but then Will died, and here I am," said Cameron.

"I wish you would quit talking about that," Melanie's voice softened at the mentioning of her late husband's death. "And quit acting like I ruined your life. You can do whatever you want. If you want to go to Asia, go. You're an adult; you're free to do what you want."

"I can't just go to Asia," Cameron sighed.

"Why not? You don't have any responsibilities, no job, no boyfriend, no kids. Seriously, travel now. You'll regret it later," Melanie tried to give Cameron advice, but she had no idea what Cameron's life had become. If she just up and left, and went out of the country, she was pretty sure that Eric would track her down and massacre her.

"Maybe. So what about Dallas?" Cameron couldn't come up with any counter arguments, and settled for changing the topic. She figured going to Dallas would be a lot better than Asia, and it was only for the weekend. If she played her cards right, Cameron could get out of the weekend entirely.

"Right, so Jackson doesn't have school next Friday, something about teacher conferences."

"Mel, you're supposed to go to those," Cameron laughed.

"Whatever, I'll reschedule later. We could leave Friday morning, come back Sunday afternoon. Visit dad Friday afternoon, again Saturday morning, and then go shopping! Shreveport is seriously lacking. I was going to meet up with some friends Saturday night. You should do the same! How long has it been since you've seen your old friends?" rambled Melanie.

"A while, I guess. I don't know, I guess I could call them. I guess next weekend will work, I'll have to call Pam, though," said Cameron.

"Pam? Who's Pam?" Melanie jumped at the name, hopeful that Cameron was finally making friends in Louisiana.

"Oh, uh, just this girl I met. We hang out sometimes," Cameron mumbled, leaving out the part of how Pam was a vampire and that they had never hung out.

"Is that where you go off to at night?" Melanie asked excitedly.

"Yeah…"

"Wait, she's not your girlfriend, is she?" Melanie stopped her celebrating short as the thought occurred to her.

"I'm sure Pam wishes, but no. I don't play for that team. She does, but whatever," Cameron explained. Now she would have to conspicuously bring home a boy or make up a believable story of how she met some guy to convince her sister that she wasn't suddenly a lesbian.

"Oh. Honey, you don't think it's a little unfair to Pam? What if she likes you and you're just stringing her along?" Melanie chided. She really just didn't get it.

"It's not like that. Lesbians don't fall I love with every girl they see, dumbass. Besides, there's also Eric…a. Erica," Cameron corrected her sister. In her attempt to defend herself, she almost slipped up on letting her sister know of Eric. It was for the best that Melanie thought that Pam and Erica were friends of hers that she hung out with several times a week. It gave her an alibi that was far better than whoring out her psychic abilities to vampires three nights a week.

"Oh. God, Cameron, look at you! You're doing just fine here!" Melanie seemed incredibly pleased that her sister really wasn't such a friendless loser.

"So back to Dallas. We're taking your car, but I'm driving," Cameron transitioned back into the subject of their trip to Dallas, eager to stop talking about Pam and Eric.

"No way! You drive too fast!" Melanie objected.

"You drive so slow. It will take days if you drive. Besides, you get distracted easily," said Cameron. Melanie finally conceded, and Cameron left the kitchen as soon as she could. She had had enough of her sister and was practically longing to be back in her apartment. She also figured that the sooner she told Eric would be new weekend plans, the better he would take it.

As soon as Cameron was back in her apartment, she changed into sweat pants and a tee from high school and got comfortable on her couch with the television on and her laptop sitting on a throw pillow next to her.

A poorly written and acted dramatic movie about a vampire and human romance, most likely produced by Lifetime, was playing in the background as Cameron searched for Fangtasia on the internet. She wasn't scheduled to go into Fangtasia that night, and figured that calling would be the best option.

The website for Fangtasia wasn't what she had expected. Of course it had a black background and obligatory red text, but it was out of date, horribly simple, and offered very little information. Vampires were secretive, though, and probably liked it that way. But it was bad business, anyway.

Cameron picked up her cell phone and dialed the number that the website gave. While the phone rang, she muted the television and waited for someone to answer. On the fourth ring, someone picked up.

"_Fangtasia, the bar with a bite, this is Pam_," Pam answered the phone, her voice oozing boredom.

"Pam, hey, it's Cameron. Is Eric there?" replied Cameron.

"_No_," Pam said simply.

"Uh, would you please tell him to call me back?" Cameron asked.

"_I don't see the point. He said he was on his way to your house, you can tell him yourself,_" Pam drawled.

As Cameron opened her mouth to reply, the front door opened, and in walked Eric.

"He actually just showed up. Thanks, Pam."

"_Whatever_," Pam hung up, and then Cameron put her phone on the coffee table.

"Looking for me?" Eric asked, closing the door behind him and striding across the small room. His incredibly long legs made it look easy.

"Actually, yes. For once."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Eric boldly sat on the cushion next to Cameron on the couch, draping his long arm across the back of it as he settled down.

"You just usually show up when I don't particularly want to see you. But this time I have to talk to you, so this was very convenient," Cameron explained.

"Ah, so I'm convenient. That's alright, I don't mind keep things casual," he said with a devious smirk. He had a knack for turning Cameron's words into something sexual.

"My sister is dragging me to Dallas next weekend. I'll only miss one night at the bar, but I'll make up for it. I'll go extra nights this week and next before I leave," said Cameron, laying out her offer. Eric seemed to consider her for a moment.

"What's in Dallas?" he asked conversationally.

"My dad. Melanie thinks we need to visit him in the home. It's been a while," Cameron said with a shrug.

"I can make you and your family hotel reservations," he offered. Cameron was at first surprised by his generosity, but the more she thought about the offer, the worse the idea sounded.

"Knowing you, you'd put the reservation under your name, put me in a different room from my sister and nephew, and bother the crap out of me. And all in a vampire hotel, which Melanie would absolutely love," Cameron called Eric out on his attempt to manipulate her further.

"You're getting more astute. I'll have to step it up, it seems," he smirked.

"I'm smarter than I look," Cameron joked.

"Then you must be at genius level," Eric complimented with a grin. He was playing incredibly nice.

"I've never been officially tested, but it's been suggested that Stephen Hawking stole his Brief History of Time from my fourth grade paper." The pop culture reference completely flew over Eric's head, but it was expected. He didn't strike Cameron as the Legally Blonde kind of person.

"Hey, while you're here, maybe you can explain this to me," Cameron pulled her abandoned laptop back into her lap and pulled up Fangtasia's homepage. She turned the screen to face Eric.

"What? It's Fangtasia's website," he said, stating the obvious, and obviously not understanding what Cameron was getting at.

"When was the last time you updated this?" she asked.

"I didn't. It was Pam's responsibility. She loathes computers, it was entertaining to watch her try and figure it out," Eric answered with an impish grin. He was mischievous, which Cameron found to be both charming and dangerous.

"Well I suggest you get someone else to make a new one. This looks like something I coded for an intro to web design class in high school," Cameron criticized, looking at the page with disgust.

"You know how to do that sort of thing? Eric asked.

"Sort of. I took a few classes in college. I'm sure some stuff has changed since then, but it's not like you're trying to reinvent Myspace," Cameron shrugged.

"Then you do it."

"Oh, hell no. I do enough for you," Cameron refused. Eric's eyebrows rose in a look of shock.

"What have you done for me? Besides give me useless visions?" he goaded.

"Fuck you," Cameron mumbled as she shut her laptop and set it on the coffee table.

"If you wish," Eric smirked again. He shifted in his seat, moving towards Cameron. The arm he had resting on the back of the couch snaked around Cameron's shoulders, and his other hand found her hip; his face was at her neck in an instant.

Cameron put her hands against his chest and tried to push, but it was useless.

"Exchanging sex for me coding a new website is technically prostitution," said Cameron as she continued to try and push him away, but he was relentless and unmovable. His lips started to ghost across the skin of her neck, along the hairline.

"Me trying to fight you off while you continue to force yourself on me is technically rape," Cameron continued. She knew Eric wouldn't do that, or at least she strongly hoped, but she figured reminding him wouldn't hurt.

"It's not rape if it's consensual," he mumbled against her skin.

In an attempt to remove Eric, Cameron grabbed his hand that was at her hip, trying to pull it away. As the skin of her hand met his, a brief image flashed through her mind. She and Eric were in her bed, completely naked, tangled in a mess of sheets, in what seemed to be an after the fact embrace. The image only lasted a second, but Cameron recognized it as a vision.

Eric seemed to feel her tense up immediately, and pulled away. Cameron wasn't sure if he knew she had a vision or if he thought she was freaking out because of the intimacy of the situation, but he didn't say anything. His hands remained firmly in place, though.

"It would be easier if you just gave in now. It would save us both a lot of effort," he reasoned, tucking some of Cameron's hair behind her ear.

"No," she said firmly. As tempting as a night with Eric was, it would be the worst idea ever. In her experience, sex always made things complicated. And things were already complicated enough for Cameron.

"Are you sure?" Eric asked. He stared into her eyes intensely, and Cameron found it difficult to look away. She was compelled to look into them.

"It would be easier if you said yes," Eric said slowly.

"No," Cameron muttered, only half aware of what was going on. She wanted to so badly say yes, she felt like she needed to agree. But somehow she knew she shouldn't, that it would be a bad idea.

Cameron blinked, and Eric pulled away from her even more, looking perplexed.

"Did you just try to glamour me again? Goddamnit, Eric!" Cameron yelled as she finally fully realized what was going on.

"You can't blame me for trying," he shrugged as Cameron got up from the couch and cross the room, getting away from Eric. "I see the ankle's all better. My offer of my blood still stands, regardless."

"No!"

"You say that word entirely too often. You should try agreeing to something, it feels good. Be indulgent, Cameron," Eric continued. She hated to admit it, but she liked the way he said her name. He said it rarely, and it was always nice when he did.

"We can't all be hedonists," Cameron shrugged as she sat down in the desk chair across the room.

"You should be careful in Dallas," Eric said, changing the subject.

"You mean I'm allowed to go?" she asked.

"Of course. I'm neither your father nor taskmaster. You can do what you want, or whomever," he said with a wink.

"Why should I be careful?" Cameron asked cautiously.

"There is a large vampire population in Dallas, as well as a lot of unrest. It's the former base of the Fellowship of the Sun, and the two clash frequently, ever since both of their leaders have fallen," Eric explained, looking disinterested, as if he was reading the weather report for Dallas.

"Oh right, that Jesus freak went missing. What other leader fell?" Cameron asked. Vampire politics were rarely discussed, and very secretive. Cameron figured they had some way of organizing themselves, especially since Eric was sheriff of part of Louisiana.

"The sheriff of the Dallas area died a while ago," Eric said simply. With that he stood from the couch. "I have a few things to take care of."

Cameron watched as he left her apartment. It had been a fairly decent visit. He could be handsy, but it wasn't entirely unappreciated. Cameron just couldn't act on it. Luckily the flash of a vision hadn't come true yet. She was starting to somewhat enjoy time spent with Eric, but she was still looking forward to going back to Dallas for a weekend to get away from Shreveport, and the hell of a mess that it had created in her life.

* * *

><p>"Need to Know" by Class Actress<p> 


	10. Into Dust

Double digits!

I got to use my Dallas expertise in this chapter, which makes me happy. Represent! Everything named are actually places, except Hotel Carmilla, which the show made up, obvi. This chapter makes me a bit sad, which you'll find out soon enough why. I miss a certain little ancient badass vampire.

* * *

><p>Cameron actually found herself anticipating the trip to Dallas. The idea of going back home and leaving Shreveport was all too appealing to her. She tried to conveniently forget the thought that she would have to return to Shreveport, though.<p>

The drive from city to city hadn't been all that bad. Jackson slept for most of it, and Melanie kept to herself and her Blackberry. Once they checked into their hotel room, which Cameron was annoyed that they would all be sharing, they had lunch at one of their favorite restaurants from when they were younger and headed over to the nursing home to visit their father.

The visit was brief. He once again though Melanie was a nurse, thought Jackson was the neighbor's kid, and didn't even acknowledge Cameron, as if she was a complete stranger. They had all experienced it before. Luckily Cameron was able to convince Melanie to cut the visit short, since Jackson was getting visibly confused and upset.

They spent the rest of the afternoon driving around, visiting all of their old haunts.

"Oh my God, look! Chip's is still here!" Melanie shrieked as they drove through the part of town they used to live in.

"Oh shit, we're going before we leave!" Cameron said, equally excited. Chip's had been a family favorite and a childhood staple. They had grown up and lived in the wealthier and older part of Dallas, known as Highland Park, and Cameron couldn't help but think how Melanie would fit in there so much better than she did in Shreveport.

"Hey, Chanel is just down the street," Melanie said suggestively. There were far too many shopping centers in that part of town.

"The last thing you need is more Chanel," Cameron sighed.

"Hermes is there, too," Melanie said, oblivious to Cameron's distaste in going shopping with her sister.

"No, you said shopping was tomorrow," Cameron whined. The last thing she wanted to do with her time back in Dallas was to be carted around high end stores that she had no place in by her sister. She doubted Jackson would enjoy it, too.

"Well what do you suggest we do?" Melanie sighed.

"We could see a movie. Remember that theater with the big couches?" Cameron suggested. Melanie shrugged, and Cameron got out her phone to check times.

"Um, all they have that doesn't start after eight is R rated…" Cameron said, scrolling through the pages of movie listings. Melanie sighed again. Jackson was much too young for anything above a G rating, and couldn't but kept up that late.

"I guess we could just rent a movie at the hotel," Melanie said despondently. Their triumphant return to Dallas wasn't going so well.

"Hey, wait, there's a museum downtown that stays open late on Friday nights, and they usually have live music," Cameron suggested. She had gone a couple of times with friends during high school and remembered that it was fun and pretty family friendly.

"Sounds better than anything I can think of," Melanie shrugged as she made a turn and got onto the Tollway, heading South towards the Arts District. Early evening traffic was bad, but they were able to find a good parking spot in the museum parking lot, making up for any frustrations.

"I remember this place. Mom took us here when we were little," Melanie said as they trio walked into the building and purchased tickets to the Nasher Sculpture Garden.

"Yeah, I came here a few times in high school, too," Cameron replied.

The inside of the museum was filled with all sorts of odd little sculptures, and the large garden had monstrous installations, some that Jackson could climb up on. There was a jazz band playing, and a few groups were sitting in the grass on blankets in front of them.

After a light dinner at the museum's café, they left the museum and drove around downtown. Jackson was talking about how big and impressive some of the sculptures had been, but both Cameron and Melanie ignored him as they would point out thing that had changed or things that they remembered.

"God, this area has expanded so much! Look at all of these new hotels. It's like they think that people think Dallas is cool and would want to come visit," Melanie gawked as they drove down a street lined with hotels. A few of them were old institutions, hotels that had been there since the early days of Dallas. These were surrounded by new, larger, and much more modern hotels. The car came to a stop at a red light, and Cameron out of her window and up at the large new hotel, Hotel Carmilla. All sorts of people were going in and out of the grand doors, and Cameron realized that a lot of them had bite marks on their neck.

"This must be that new vampire hotel," Melanie said, watching the people like her sister was.

Cameron's gaze traveled up the side of the building, up until the top.

Cameron felt like she had been there before. The vague déjà vu gave way to a memory. Cameron was standing on the rooftop of the hotel, she could see the skyline of Dallas perfectly in the coming light of dawn. The sun was almost up. Turning away from the edge of the building and tearing her gaze form the view, Cameron saw three people. A woman by the stairs in a sundress was standing by the stairs. A young man, who looked nothing more than a teenager, stood in the center of the roof, wearing all white and sandals. He looked like he belonged in a commune, or even a different time. And then Eric, dressed in all black, stood between the two others.

Cameron hadn't been expecting to see Eric, and called out his name, but her voice had been muffled. She couldn't interact with a memory.

Taking a few steps closer to the scene, Cameron could see blood running down Eric's face as he moved closer to the teenager. They were speaking, but for some reason Cameron couldn't hear them, and she couldn't read their lips.

Eric collapsed onto his knees at the feet of the teenager. It looked like he was consoling him, as he spoke to him and patted his head affectionately, like a father would to an upset child.

Eric finally stood, and he towered over the teenager. He took a few tentative steps back, then turned to leave. The woman caught his hand as he walked past her, and she told him something before he left.

The woman walked towards the teenager, and they began to speak. Tears started to stream down her face, though he looked almost joyful. Cameron realized that the sky was getting lighter, and the sun was coming up. The teenager left the woman, moved to the edge of the roof, and removed his shirt. As the sun rose, he erupted into brilliant blue flames, and was gone in seconds.

In an instant, Cameron was back in the car. It jerked forward as the red light turned into green, and Melanie continued to drive down the street, and away from the hotel.

Cameron wasn't sure if what she had just seen was past or present. She needed to call Eric, or Pam, and find out what was going on. She of course couldn't do that in front of Melanie, and waited impatiently until they returned to their own hotel. The drive was unbearably long to Cameron, as they had to get back on the Tollway.

As soon as they returned to the hotel, Cameron begged Melanie to borrow it, lying and saying that she needed to run to the store. Melanie didn't take much convincing.

Cameron drove down the street a little ways and parked in an empty church parking lot. It had been dark for almost an hour, and Cameron was sure that Eric or Pam would be at Fangtasia by now.

Searching for the bar in her contacts, Cameron pressed "call" and waited for someone to pick up.

"_Fangtasia, the bar with a bite, this is Pam_," Pam answered the phone.

"Pam! Is Eric there?" Cameron tried to contain her sense of urgency.

"_Why?_" Pam questioned.

"It's important. Please, I had a vision and I need to speak with him," Cameron explained. It seemed to be good enough, because Pam put down the phone to get Eric, presumably. Cameron waited for a few minutes, until finally Eric spoke.

"_What?_" he asked impatiently.

"I had a vision," Cameron said.

"_Obviously_," he huffed.

"If this is a bad time, I can call back," Cameron snapped, not appreciating his attitude.

"_What did you see?_" Eric ignored her reaction and demanded to know why she had called.

"I don't know how to explain it. But have you been to Dallas or plan on going in the future?" Cameron asked, trying to carefully word what she saw. It had obviously been incredibly emotional for him. He had cried. Of course the bloody tears had made the scene a bit more macabre, but he was suffering, and then the teenage vampire had willingly met the sun.

"_I no longer have any connections in Dallas_," he said simply.

"Oh," Cameron mumbled, realized that her vision had already happened, long before she even met Eric.

"_What did you see?_" Eric repeated.

"Just something from the past. Sorry, I didn't realize it was after the fact until now," Cameron said. She didn't want Eric to know what she had seen, or that she had seen him so vulnerable.

"_Very well. Good bye._" Eric hung up.

Cameron sat in the car for a good fifteen minutes, thinking about what she had seen. The whole scene had been slightly disturbing, and the image of the boy burning in the sun haunted her. Why hadn't the blonde woman helped him, or try to stop him?

She wanted to talk to Eric, to find out what had really happened, who the other people were, why he was so sad, but she didn't feel comfortable bringing it up. He had obviously been close with the teenaged vampire, Cameron didn't think he would cry for just anyone.

Cameron felt a bit like crying herself. Visions rarely ever affected her emotionally, but what she had seen earlier that night was far too powerful to not get emotional about.

She had watched someone die. Cameron had never seen anyone die, not counting in movies or television shows. Of course she hadn't actually been present at the vampire's actual death, but knowing that it had already happened didn't comfort Cameron. She had seen her sister's husband dead, but not the actual death.

On the way back to the hotel, Cameron stopped into a gas station to buy a random bottle of shampoo and some candy. She couldn't return to the room empty handed, and being around people would keep her from crying, like she desperately wanted to.

As soon as she was in her room, she desperately tried to sleep, but ended up eating candy and watching television all night long.

* * *

><p>"Into Dust" by Mazzy Star<p> 


	11. Gone Too Far

Finals week is upon us! The next update won't be for a while, sorry. Please review! They'll help me get through studying and finals and other hellish things associated with the end of a semester.

* * *

><p>Melanie hadn't noticed anything wrong with Cameron the entire weekend. Her ignorance was in part due to Cameron doing her absolute best to hide whatever it was that she was feeling, as she really didn't know how to interpret what she felt, and also due to Melanie being self-absorbed.<p>

There really wasn't a reason for Cameron to be feeling so down, and no matter how many times she told herself that there was nothing to be upset about, she still felt a bit empty, or broken. She wasn't quite sure why.

But what she did know was that she kept replaying the scene of the teenaged vampire willingly burning in the sun, the hurt and anguish on Eric's face. Cameron couldn't understand it. She couldn't make sense of the vision. She had overanalyzed it a thousand times over, but came up with nothing. Had she been able to hear any sort of dialogue, or been better at reading lips, she would have a clue. But all she could do was speculate.

Maybe the teenager was Eric's vampire child. Cameron couldn't remember the word, though she had heard Eric call Pam whatever it was. It meant that he was her maker, that he had turned her into a vampire. Maybe he had done the same to the boy. But that didn't make any sense. Makers are supposed to have some sort of power over their vampire children. Cameron couldn't picture Eric taking orders from anyone. Whoever she saw die must have been terribly important to Eric.

What was almost just as distressing as watching something so heartbreaking, was the fact that Cameron was being deeply affected by it. Seeing Eric in so much pain hurt her too. It shouldn't have, but it did. She was growing attached to him, and she couldn't decide if it was a good or bad thing. She liked him, he was dangerously attractive, he could be incredibly charming, charismatic, sweet, but also predatorial, moody, violent, and just plain mean. He had baggage.

It was stupid to even think about that, though. He wouldn't be interested in anything besides her blood and her body. Cameron didn't think that she would be able to be so casual about sex, though. She had tried once in college, and it ended up terribly. Cameron got attached to people, she couldn't help it. And it was probably best that she didn't get attached to Eric. She wouldn't be able to cut him out of her life without potentially ending it, though. On the drive back to Shreveport, which was something else that depressed her, Cameron stared out the window, thinking about her options the entire three and a half hours. She had forced Melanie to drive on the way back. She didn't want to endanger everyone with driving while there was so much on her mind. That was the last thing she needed.

Being back in Shreveport was almost like a dream. Leaving it had been so wonderful, going back to Dallas had felt so right. There was nothing in Shreveport, besides Melanie and Jackson. For as much as she nagged, Melanie was usually right. She was right about Cameron not having a life, no friends, nothing really tying her down.

"Hey, when we get back, I think I'm going to plan a camping trip. I haven't been on one in so long," Cameron finally spoke for the first time since they crossed the Louisiana state line, right as the car pulled into the garage.

"Really?" Melanie asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I'll call up some of my old friends. You know, the ones that I used to camp with. Like old times," said Cameron with a casual shrug of the shoulders. It had been a random thought, to go camping, but the more she thought about it, the better it sounded. Actually doing something sounded so appealing. Especially if it meant getting out of Shreveport, or even Louisiana.

Cameron would have to work around Eric, but a little separation was probably for the best. She was seeing things about him that she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Eric was complicated, even on his best days, and complication was the last thing Cameron wanted more of in her life.

They had arrived back at the house just before sunset. Cameron helped get Melanie's and Jackson's things into the main house before the sun completely set. She had one of those odd feelings that were sometimes associated with visions, that Eric would be coming later that night.

Expecting him to show up, Cameron filled up a laundry basket with dirty clothes and took them down to the garage to start a load. There was an incredibly old washing machine and dryer in the garage, even though the main house had a more modern laundry room. Melanie and Will had renovated the house right after getting married, and added the laundry room to the floor plan so that they wouldn't have to go out to the garage. They never got around to removing the machines, though.

There was a side door, underneath the stairs, that lead into the garage. Lining the walls were metal shelving unites, a workbench littered with tools that nobody ever used, or even knew how to use, and the washing machine and dryer. Melanie's SUV and Will's old car occupied the garage. Melanie never could bring herself to get rid of the extra car, or even move it, forcing Cameron to park her car outside. She didn't mind, though.

As she waited for the first load of whites to wash and rinse, Cameron sat on top of the hood of Will's BMW, leaning against the windshield with a book.

Catching movement in her peripheral vision, Cameron turned away from her book to see Eric walk through the door, just as she had predicted.

"Have fun in Dallas?" he asked, skipping the greeting. Cameron had come to realize that vampires didn't really greet or bid farewell, or shake hands.

"At first," Cameron replied with a shrug of her shoulders, as she closed the book and held it in her lap.

"Fight with the sister?" he guessed, leaning against the side of Melanie's car, facing Cameron.

"Surprisingly, no. We were very well behaved," Cameron said, smiling a bit, though she didn't feel like smiling.

"You missed me, didn't you?" he said, smiling at her charmingly. Cameron couldn't help but smile back.

"You caught me. It was hell without you there," Cameron joked as she sat up straight.

"I knew it, you can't resist me," he smirked, pushing himself off of the SUV and moving to lean against the BMW. He propped an elbow up on the top of the car, and rested his head against his hand.

"You're just such a hunk," Cameron said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"So are you going to tell me what had you all hot and bothered on Friday night?" Eric finally asked, standing up straight and shoving his hands in his blazer pockets. He knew how to wear a suit.

"I was not hot and bothered," Cameron defended herself, scooting herself across the hood of the car to the opposite side Eric was on. She needed separation. She had to keep reminding herself. She slid off the side of the car, stood up as tall and as straight as she could.

"You said you saw a vision of me, chances are, you were hot and bothered," Eric pressed.

"I saw a vision of you, but it wasn't exactly hot stuff. It was actually really disturbing. But it already happened, so nothing to worry about. Moving on," Cameron said, with what she hoped sounded like finality.

"Dallas wasn't exactly a vacation. I ran into a bit of trouble with the Fellowship. Or the Jesus freak as you so eloquently put it," said Eric.

"You got in trouble with the Fellowship of the Sun?" Cameron asked, surprised. Eric was cocky, but she didn't think he actually went out looking for trouble. Especially with such a public group.

Eric eyed her, with what Cameron suspected to be suspicion.

"What did you see?" he asked seriously.

"Nothing. It was just you and some woman. She was blonde, wore a dress. The whole situation was… odd," Cameron shrugged, hoping to come off nonchalant.

"Ahh, I think I know where this is going," Eric said, smiling smugly, as he cross his arms over his chest, raising one hand to his chin as he walked around the car to stand in front of Cameron.

"You do?" she asked, not sure where his train of thought was going.

"I know what you saw, and you don't have to worry," the smug look on his face wouldn't seem to go away, making Cameron even more confused.

"I don't?" Cameron really was lost.

"Jealousy is a perfectly normal thing. If it makes you feel better, I'm not a one woman kind of man," he said, taking a step closer, lightly placing a hand on Cameron's hip, his other placed on her jaw. His long fingers were in her hair.

"I'm sorry, I'm just really confused. Can you just explain what happened," Cameron said, still completely and obviously confused, but she tried to use that to her advantage to get more information out of him.

"I wasn't hurt, not seriously. A Fellowship member turned suicide bomber came to a little party we were having. The blonde in a dress was just trying to save my life and suck the silver out. It was quite noble. Unnecessary, but not at all unappreciated," he explained, grinning triumphantly.

Cameron had difficulty imagining the blonde in the dress sucking silver shrapnel out of Eric's body. The idea made her want to vomit. She couldn't help but think that if that ever happened again, but she was the one in the dress, she would probably just let Eric suffer. Or try digging the shrapnel out with a knife. Thinking about that also made her queasy.

"Number one, ew. Number two, we are so on different pages right now," Cameron said, taking a step out of Eric's grasp. Not one to be left behind, Eric took a step forward and his hands resumed their position.

"Enlighten me," he said, his voice low and husky, as he dropped his head to run his nose along her jaw. Cameron hated it. No, she loved it. It made her feel so many wonderful things, but she couldn't. She absolutely could not get any more involved with Eric, and she had to steel herself. She knew the perfect mood killer.

"You were crying on a roof, and the blonde in the dress watched a vampire burn in the sun," Cameron spoke quickly, desperate to get the words out. She wasn't able to add in any details, but she figured that was all she needed.

Eric froze, and he slowly lifted his head to look her straight in the eye, his expression as serious as she had ever seen it.

"Godric," he muttered.

"Was that his name?" Cameron whispered. She didn't know why, but she couldn't find her voice. The anguish was back in Eric's eyes. "Was he important to you?"

Cameron never took Eric to be someone that was really in touch with his feelings or his sensitive side. She figured he wouldn't want to talk about it, but she would at least try.

Instead of answering, Eric's lips were on her own before she could even register what was happening. Cameron couldn't tell if he was trying to shut her up and change the subject. Before she could stop herself, she kissed him back.

His left hand gripped her hip tightly, the other smoothed back her hair, pushing it out of her face, as he pushed her body against the BMW. Cameron gripped the lapels of his blazer, pulling him even closer. It was stupid, she was so stupid for reciprocating. Yet she slid her hands underneath the blazer and pushed it off of him, forcing him to remove his hands from her body momentarily. The nice and probably ridiculously expensive blazer hit the dirty garage floor as one of Eric's hands found the hem of Cameron's top and disappeared underneath the fabric, slowly gliding up her side.

"No!" Cameron ripped herself away from Eric, her mind finally registering what she was doing and who she was doing it with. "Fuck no, this cannot happen. Do not try that again, goddamnit," Cameron yelled, straightening her top and backing away from Eric.

"You and I both know you enjoyed it," he smirked.

"It doesn't fucking matter. You need to go," she said, her voice holding firm.

"I don't need an invitation to get into a garage," he said, taking a few slow steps towards her.

"It's common courtesy that when someone asks you to leave, you do so. Now go," Cameron said, holding her ground. She wasn't going to back away from him, or assume the submissive role. She was going to stand up to him.

"And if I don't?" he challenged. He pushed his luck and took a few more steps towards her, until he was directly in front of Cameron.

"I know you don't really worry about this, but humans get attached to things. We read too much into actions and think that people actually care based off of them. Since you're not human, you don't understand that. You can be casual. You don't have all of these stupid emotions stopping you. But I do. I seriously can't handle whatever will happen after you're done with me," Cameron explained as best she could.

"You continue to intrigue me, Cameron," he said, lifting a hand to her cheek, then pushed her hair over her shoulder.

"I promise you, I'm not that interesting. And you'll figure that out pretty soon. And once you do, you won't care anymore."

"I think the lady protests too much."

Cameron held his gaze, willing herself to not blink. Of course she didn't stand a chance, she knew that, but she had to stand up to him.

"I would like to keep our relationship professional," she finally muttered.

"Alright," Eric finally spoke after what seemed like the longest moment of Cameron's life. "But feel free to change your mind."

Eric picked up his blazer, tossed it over his shoulder, one finger hooked in the collar. He looked at Cameron one last time, and disappeared from sight. The washing machine buzzed as the rinse cycle finished.

Cameron heaved a large sigh and threw her wet clothes into the dryer. No longer interested in doing another load, Cameron abandoned the basket and the clothes in the dryer and went up to her apartment to sleep for the rest of the night. And possibly through to the next day.

* * *

><p>"Gone Too Far" by Dragonette<p> 


	12. It's a Curse

I'm so sorry this took forever! Finals took up a huge chunk of time, and then as soon as I got home, it just became one thing after another. But Christmas is over, so I should have a lot more time to write before I go back to school!

I'm not sure if I should bump up the rating of this story. I won't, don't, and can't write sex scenes, but this story is getting to the point where it'll be talked about a lot. Plus I swear a lot. Let me know if I should seriously consider this. I don't want to offend. But at the same time, I feel like if you're reading a True Blood fanfic, you know what you're getting yourself into.

* * *

><p>Ever since kicking Eric out of her garage, Cameron had been having all sorts of weird visions and feelings. But she couldn't make sense of anything. She hardly ever got a clear shot of anything. Every vision Cameron had was a muddled mess of shapes, colors, and lines, mixed with sounds and voices that she couldn't decipher. Because of all the confusion going on inside her head, Cameron had been walking around with an almost constant headache. She was incredibly short tempered, and snapped at whoever crossed her path. She made at least two kids cry at one of the soccer practices and got several phone calls from angry parents the next day.<p>

Melanie could easily tell that something was bothering her younger sister, but Cameron kept her mouth shut and wouldn't tell her anything. Towards the end of the week, they weren't speaking to each other. It seemed like even Bo was avoiding Cameron and her foul moods.

By the time Cameron was due to show up at Fangtasia, she could barely control her temper. She was dreading seeing Eric, or even Pam. She was dreading trying to find a parking spot in the crowded lot, dealing with the fangbangers, the loud music, the tacky décor. Cameron didn't even feel like getting properly dressed. She opted for jeans and plain black cotton t-shirt, which she doubted was very clean, and old boat shoes. Pam would probably give her lip about it, but Cameron was prepared to return the favor.

The drive to the downtown area was filled with aggressive driving and lots of swearing and yelling. Cameron nearly ran over a few pedestrians in the parking lot of Fangtasia, and slammed her door shut much harder than was necessary.

She stalked past Pam, ignoring anything she said, and sat down heavily in her usual chair. She didn't bother with a drink. She hadn't had much of an appetite for anything. Her head was already pounding with pain from the loud music and stench of sweat and alcohol.

Cameron did the best she could to focus on the book she brought with her, but after half an hour of reading the same paragraph over and over, Cameron took to just staring down at the pages absently. She wasn't going to bother reading; she wouldn't have remembered any of it anyway.

Most of the regulars were used to Cameron's odd behavior for a controversial bar. She always sat quietly in a corner and read, and she always dressed fairly conservatively for a vampire bar. Cameron and Fangtasia were an odd pair to those who did not understand her reason for being there.

Some of the more shrewd patrons who frequented the bar weren't ignorant of Eric Northman's odd behavior towards her. Once a week or so, he would stop by her table on his way to or from his office, they would have a brief conversation, or sometimes she would go into his office. Yet she had no bite marks. There were those in the nightly crowds that took note of the strange relationship.

Unable to bear the scene any longer, Cameron left Fangtasia a full ten minutes early. She was fortunate enough to not see Eric the entire time she was there, leading her to believe that he probably wasn't even there, or had something important to work on. He usually at least glanced her way, or would speak to her. With a grim realization, Cameron did her best to shake off the unwelcome feeling of disappointment. It was for the best that she did not see Eric.

The weather was starting to get a bit cooler, which in Louisiana terms, meant maybe a light cardigan, or the chance to wear jeans all day without at some point becoming uncomfortably warm. It was almost officially fall, and the children's soccer league was coming to a close. Cameron could see the light at the end of the tunnel that was her forced commitment to coaching Jackson's soccer team.

The entire season, Melanie had been adamant that the kids would grow on Cameron. In actuality, Cameron couldn't stand them. She had started to even grow a little annoyed with Jackson. He was very cocky; he was a show-off. He thought that he could get away with anything because his aunt was the coach, which in his mind made it his team. To correct that mindset, Cameron treated him slightly worse than the other kids. She was quicker to punish him, but he didn't seem to get it.

The final game was on a Saturday afternoon. The event was in tournament style- two separate games, four teams, the remaining two teams played for the title. Not that Cameron was excited or determined. Winning the league title wasn't what she considered an accomplishment. She was already planning out her excuse to get her out of coaching the team next season.

The Gators, as Jackson had decided would be the team name, won the first game of the day, which should have been pleasing to Cameron. But in reality, she was a little annoyed that she would have to stay on the field even longer for another game.

Helicopter parents swooped in after the first game to dote on their little champions. Cameron hated soccer moms. They offered Rice Krispy Treats, fruit gummy snacks, bags of chips, juice boxes, and bottles of Gatorade as after game snacks. If anyone had ever even tried to approach her with one of those in hand after one of her soccer games, she would have made a show about how terrible those things were. But she didn't really have much of an argument, as she had spiked her own bottle of Gatorade with an unhealthy amount of vodka.

By the time the other team had finished their game, it was late in the afternoon. One couple, who were the parents of one of the whiniest, most spoiled children on the team, started to get uncomfortable. It was starting to get dark, and they were legitimately worried for their child's safety. The Walsh's were the parents that insisted on a team prayer before each game, and had even suggested a "holier" name for the team. Cameron and Melanie got a lot of concerned phone calls from those parents. Melanie skillfully handled them, Cameron usually just faked going through a tunnel or would let them get her voicemail.

The game finally started, and it was almost immediately clear that Cameron's team was going to lose. After the first quarter, the field lights were switched on. By halftime, it was almost dark. Cameron took off her sunglasses and rested them on top of the bill of her hat. She did her best to give the team an inspirational speech, but her heart wasn't in it. She was still having random flashes of visions, and she was still constantly getting headaches.

The kids shouted out a chant that Cameron remembered doing with her middle school team, and she stepped away from the huddle. She took a long drink from her special Gatorade and watched as the kids stormed the field to begin the second half.

An odd feeling that usually accompanied visions came over Cameron. She braced herself for her first real, substantial vision in nearly two weeks, but nothing ever came. Perturbed, she turned to scan the crowd sitting in the bleachers behind her. Something told her to look.

There were a good deal of families. The bleachers were full, and the overflow spectators stood on either side of the bleachers. Cameron's eyes slowly scanned across the crowd, and she had to do a double take, she nearly missed Eric standing a distance from the back of the crowd. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she did her best to hold her composure.

Eric stood out, though nobody seemed to notice him but Cameron. He had probably snuck up as quiet as the grave. If the Walsh's knew a vampire was standing only several feet behind them, they would have probably called in the National Guard.

A lot of the parents were dressed in very casual attire, but Eric seemed to be dressed to the nines. He was dressed in no doubt a designer dark grey suit with a black dress shirt underneath. A few of the top buttons were open, and Cameron wouldn't have minded opening a few more for him. But she had to focus.

As Cameron turned her attention back to the game, another brief flash of an image crossed her mind. Unlike previous flashes that had been plaguing her, Cameron could actually make sense of what she was seeing. It wasn't just a blur, or a random flash of a landscape or some seemingly meaningless object. It was Eric.

The image was dark, Cameron had a feeling he was outdoors. His hair was a mess. He was shirtless, and also barefoot. He was slightly dirty. He also looked very lost and confused. Almost like a child that had been separated from his mother in a crowded mall. The image was gone as quickly as it came.

Like Cameron had predicted, they lost the final game. A few of the kids actually cried, but she left the consoling to the parents. She looked around wildly, trying to spot Eric before someone else did, but she couldn't find him. He had vanished.

Melanie had invited the whole team and their families to the house for celebratory pizza and ice cream, meaning that Cameron wouldn't be able to sneak off very easily. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to parents and hear about how wonderful the children were. It would take a lot more special Gatorade to make a pizza party bearable, but Cameron doubted she could get away with it.

Once the saddened team picked up the pieces and left the field with their parents, Cameron shouldered her own bag, picked up the useless clipboard that she never used from under the bench, and left the field. She was at least glad that she had brought her own car and didn't have to ride with Jackson and Melanie.

"I didn't realize you were worked with children," Cameron jumped and held in a shriek. Eric was sitting in the passenger seat of her Jeep, looking quite amused.

"Not by choice," she breathed, trying to steady her heart, as she threw her bag and clipboard into the backseat and climbed into the driver's seat. She put the key in the ignition, but didn't start the car. "What's with the sudden interest in children's soccer?"

"It's not the sport I care about," he smirked. Eric sitting in Cameron's Jeep was almost comical. His head nearly brushed the ceiling, and the seat was as far back as it would go, yet his long legs were still positioned awkwardly. He was much too big for the cramped car.

"Professionals don't flirt," Cameron scolded.

"I'm not here on business," Eric countered. He lifted a hand and brought it up to Cameron's face, but she pushed it away.

"I'm not in the mood," Cameron warned.

"Easily rectified." Eric's hand returned to her cheek, and brought his head towards hers.

"Not what I meant. I'm seriously not in the mood to deal with you," Cameron repeated.

"I thought alcohol was supposed to eliminate human inhibitions," Eric smiled, pulling Cameron closer. She didn't like it, but she didn't exactly put up a fight either. He kissed her once.

"I had _a_ drink. Not even a full one. I'm too sober for this," Cameron pulled out of his grasp. She pulled the sunglasses from atop her hat, and then took off the hat to give her something to do to distract her from Eric's charms, of which there were many.

"Anything to report?" Eric asked after settling into a more appropriate position on his side of the car.

"I thought you weren't here on business," Cameron smirked.

"Oh, I don't have to be," he said suggestively. Cameron almost cursed herself for trying to deny Eric. He was incredibly hard to resist, but it was for the best. She had to keep reminding herself that he was a very powerful and potentially dangerous vampire. She had never dealt with a vampire before; she was in foreign territory and had to protect herself. But he was also dangerously good looking and damn near irresistible.

"I have to go eat pizza with a bunch of eight year olds and their parents," Cameron said, twisting away from Eric to look out the windshield and out across the now empty field.

"Blow it off. Or blow me. Your choice."

"Oh my god! Did you just say that?" Cameron shouted. Eric had never said anything so overtly sexual, though she knew he wasn't exactly chaste. The comment still caught her off guard. She hadn't expected him to be so openly lurid with her.

"My offer still stands," he winked at her, and smiled suggestively.

"No. No. I think we're getting too comfortable with each other. And by we, I mean you," Cameron focused intently on the empty field. She willed herself to not look at Eric. His ability to glamour her was almost non-existent, but she didn't want to risk it. She didn't really think he would, but she kept reminding herself of the potential danger.

"I was mostly joking. You shouldn't be late to your own party. On the way over, you can tell me about any visions you've had since we've last spoken," said Eric, all traces of flirting and seduction gone. He had no issues flipping that switch, it seemed.

"You're not going to that party," Cameron refused to start the car before she made that clear.

"I don't think this group of people would be very understanding if they discovered your connection to a vampire. I'd very much like to keep this a secret, in case I haven't made that very clear," said Eric. His tone was serious. Cameron got the feeling that there was some sort of underlying meaning, but she couldn't even begin to fathom what that could be.

With a sigh she started the car and pulled out of the empty parking lot. She was about to remind Eric to put on his seatbelt, but he probably would have found her reminder to be an insult. It was a little frightening how easily Cameron could forget that Eric was a vampire.

Both Eric and Cameron were silent the entire ride. The radio was on a low volume; Eric could probably hear it quite well, but Cameron struggled to identify between songs and commercials.

As she noticed a cop car parked a little ways up the street, Cameron glanced down at her dash. She was safe as far as speed, but she noticed that the gas light had come on. She pulled into the nearest gas station and slid out of the car without saying a word to Eric. Before she could even pull her debit card out of her wallet, Eric was standing behind her, his hand on her wrist.

"Wait," he commanded. Cameron turned to look up at him, but he had already disappeared. Looking around the lot, Cameron spotted him through the window of the gas station. He was back not a minute later, carrying a six pack of True Blood and a bottle of vodka.

"Go ahead," he nodded towards the gas pump as he set the bottles on the floor of the backseat of Cameron's Jeep.

"What are you doing?" Cameron asked, turning away from the pump and completely forgetting about the gas.

"I took care of it," Eric said simply, leaning against the side of the car, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You didn't have to do that," said Cameron as she grabbed the nozzle and shoved it into her car; the gas started pumping.

"You drive an old car that gets terrible mileage. You should trade it in," Eric suggested. He had generously paid cash for a tank of gas. Cameron couldn't figure out why. She wasn't ungrateful, but she couldn't figure Eric out. It had been quite a while since he had acted violent or cruel, and it was getting harder to remember that side of him.

"It gets me from Point A to Point B. And I got it in high school. I think I've kept it this long for sentimental reasons. It doesn't give me trouble," Cameron defended her old car. Eric looked at her in an appraising manner, as if he was amused by her.

"What's the blood and alcohol for?" Cameron finally asked once the tank was full.

"You need something to get through this evening, and so do I. That is, unless you would let me bite you. I'd be more than willing to return the favor," Eric pushed himself from the car and stepped right up to her. His hands grasped her upper arms gently, and he stared down at her.

"Why are you so persistent with this whole blood thing?"

To answer her question, Eric's lips parted and his fangs dropped. There was the reminder she needed that he wasn't human.

"Ma'am, are you OK?" a heavily accented, gruff voice called from a few pumps over. Both Eric and Cameron turned their heads to look at the man. He eyed the pair warily, unsure what to do. His conscious wasn't going to let him just let the woman be attacked by a vampire, but there was nothing he could do to help her. He wasn't even sure if she needed help.

"I'm fine, thank you," Cameron called. She heard the '_snick_' sound of Eric's fangs detracting, and he let go of her arms. She waved at the man, and he turned away, satisfied that he had done the right thing, and utterly grateful that he didn't get himself involved in something bad.

Cameron and Eric got back in the car and drove off in silence.

The street in front of Melanie's house was lined with minivans and SUVs. She could barely squeeze by to pull in to her own drive way.

"I'll probably be able leave this thing in two hours, maybe an hour and a half. The kids'll be hyped up on soda but they'll crash soon," Cameron said as she turned off the car. Eric nodded once and got out of the car. He grabbed the bottles form the back seat as Cameron slipped out of the car.

"I'll be waiting," Eric said, then disappeared, presumably into her apartment. Cameron sighed and walked into the main house, ready to face the overbearing parents and screaming children. She was actually looking forward to what was awaiting her in her apartment- Eric and a bottle of vodka. She was ready to get drunk and do bad things with Eric.

* * *

><p>"It's a Curse" by Wolf Parade<p> 


	13. Nail In My Coffin

Thanks for the reviews! I'll try to get a few more updates out before I head back to school on the 17th.

* * *

><p>The party dragged on a lot longer than the predicted hour and a half. It was nearly 11:00 when the crowd started to thin out a little. The children had crashed after ingesting gobs of sugar and running around the house and backyard. The bottles of wine had been emptied by some of the mothers, and they were starting to get a sleepy. At 11:30, the house was empty except for Melanie, a sleeping Jackson, and Cameron.<p>

All through the party, Cameron's mind kept returning to Eric, who was waiting for her in her apartment above the garage. For the first half of the party, she was absolutely ready to go up to her room and be completely unprofessional with him. It wasn't as if she actually worked with him. There was no need to be professional. He had proved to her that he could be quite sweet; he could be a decent guy.

The second half of the party, Cameron remembered that he was a vampire, and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that. It had been an embarrassingly long time since she had been with a human guy. She had never even knowingly spoken to a vampire before Eric. Well, the first vampire she had met was Pam.

Cameron knew that Eric probably wasn't one for commitment and relationships. But she didn't think that she was exactly capable of casual affairs with someone that she presumably worked for. If Cameron got involved with Eric, she was more than likely going to end up getting hurt, either physically or emotionally. Possibly both.

Melanie guilted Cameron into helping her clean up. Cameron argued to save the chore for the next morning, but Melanie had decided she was going to take Jackson to church and didn't want to wake up to a dirty house. Melanie knew better than to invite Cameron.

"I'm back and I'm ready for that bottle of vodka!" Cameron called into her dark apartment. Bo appeared from under a chair, but he was the only sign of life.

She hadn't exactly resolved what she was going to do. There was no plan. Unless winging it was a plan. As she moved further into her apartment, turning on various lights as she went, it became clear that Cameron wouldn't have to make a decision. There was no sign of Eric. It didn't even look like he had been there.

With a frown, Cameron kicked off her shoes, peeled off her coach's polo and jeans, and pulled on a shirt she had gotten her freshman year of college and a pair of leggings. She needed to do laundry.

Cameron went into the kitchen and looked into the refrigerator hopelessly. Nothing looked good; she wasn't hungry. She picked up the kitchen a little bit and loaded the dishwasher.

Cameron sat at her desk for a little bit, trying to figure out what to do. She wasn't tired. She didn't have anything to read. There was nothing interesting on TV. Nothing interesting on the internet or her computer. For once, she actually wanted Eric to barge into her apartment and make inappropriate comments and overstep his boundaries. The one time she actually wanted it, it seemed as if Eric had vanished.

Cameron couldn't figure out why he had left when he said he would be waiting for her. Maybe something had come up. It was possible that there was something going on at Fangtasia.

It was barely 12:30. It didn't take long for Cameron to slip on some sneakers and a cardigan and dash down the stairs to her car. It probably wasn't a very good idea, but she was bored and he had broken a date, so to speak.

Cameron got half way to Fangtasia when she pulled a U-turn. She really didn't need to go there. She wasn't going to play the part of clingy girlfriend or be the type of girl who had to always check up on the guy. She wasn't even his girlfriend. She was pretty sure that Eric didn't even know the meaning of that word.

She stopped at a gas station on her way home and got a bottle of soda and a bag of Skittles. She figured that she might as well have something to show for her venture out.

Once back home, Cameron sat on the top step of the stairs leading up to her apartment. She let Bo out, who was grooming himself next to her. She took turns sipping on her soda and chewing on handfuls of candy as she looked out at the dark yard.

She tried to offer a Skittle to Bo once he was done licking his fur. He sniffed it interestedly for a little while, licked the candy once, then turned his head away. Cameron sighed and threw it over the railing and into the grass.

"I like you, Bo. You always stick to your commitments," Cameron muttered as she pulled the cat into her lap and stroked his back.

"That's not a very common word in a vampire's vocabulary." Cameron had grown used to Eric sneaking up on her, as awful as that was. She just sighed in response and continued to pet Bo.

"I had something to take care of. It took longer than expected," Eric appeared in front of Cameron, a few steps down from her so that their eye lines met.

"I get it," Cameron said. He really didn't need to explain. It was for the best that he wasn't in her apartment when she first got back.

"Still want this?" Eric held out the bottle of vodka and smiled devilishly.

"No, I think I'm just gonna head to bed," Cameron stood up, Bo still in her arms. She shifted Bo into one arm, and picked up her trash with her free hand. Ignoring Eric, Cameron went into her apartment, but left the door open. She wasn't going to hook up with him, but he could at least come inside. She wouldn't mind at least talking to him.

"You were singing a different tune only a few hours ago," Eric had shut the door behind him and set the bottle on the coffee table. He pulled Cameron towards him. She let Bo jump from her arms, and allowed Eric to pull her towards him.

"So you never answered me earlier," Eric said, holding Cameron quite close to him.

"You're not getting a blow job."

"Not what I meant, but I'm disappointed to hear that," Eric said, running a hand through Cameron's hair.

"No visions either. Or nothing that really counts. Lately it's been hell. It's been like trying to watch TV, but with really bad reception. I can't understand what I hear, and I can't really make out what I see," she explained.

"Why is that?" he asked.

"I don't know, but it's driving me crazy. It's giving me terrible headaches," she said. "Sometimes I wish I knew someone who was like me and who maybe knew why this was happening and how I could make it stop," Cameron added later. She had given in and was leaning on Eric's chest. He remained silent.

"Didn't you say you knew a telepath or something?" Cameron asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes," Eric finally answered after gathering his thoughts.

"That must suck, too."

"She used it to her advantage," Eric said, trying to remain aloof. It was for the best that he kept that away from Cameron. He didn't want to go into any more detail.

"Would I be out of line asking what happened to her? If I could somehow meet her?" Cameron asked the very thing Eric was hoping she wouldn't.

"No." he said simply, pulling away from Cameron.

"She's the one that went missing, right? You mentioned this before. Eric, what happened to her?" Cameron pried. Cameron was trying to draw as many connections as she could between herself and the mysterious telepathic woman. Some woman had been special, like Cameron, and had been linked to Eric, also like Cameron. She was starting to wonder what went wrong, and if there was some sort of connection that needed to be brought to her attention.

"I don't know," Eric said honestly. Cameron studied his face for a moment, and sighed. She had no way of knowing if he was being honest, but she felt like she could trust him.

"I don't need to be worried, do I?" she finally asked. The only way she was going to figure that out was if she asked him directly. There was no point in trying to figure it out for herself, and it could have been dangerous to just wait and see. She didn't want to risk her life any more than necessary.

"No," Eric answered, pulling Cameron back to him. He leant over and his lips were at her neck. It was an effective way to get her to lose her train of thought. Her hands were on his biceps- at first in an attempt to push him away, but she ended up pulling him closer. IT seemed like she was going to go back to her original plan for the evening.

Cameron pushed him towards the bedroom, and in an instant, she was on her back on her bed, and Eric was pulling off his blazer and kicking off his shoes. He crawled on top back on top of her, and she pulled his face towards her own. Cameron slipped off her shoes and worked on the buttons of Eric's nice shirt.

Eric worked slowly. One hand was just below the waistband of her leggings, the other working its way up her shirt.

It was odd kissing someone with fangs. Not in a bad way, though. Cameron just wasn't used to it. She was afraid that they would be too sharp and that they would cut open her lips or tongue. Though, she was sure that Eric wouldn't exactly mind that. She wasn't really sure when his fangs had dropped, either.

Eric pulled her shirt off of her roughly, and his mouth was at her neck. He dragged his fangs along her skin, forcing an involuntary shiver. Cameron snapped out of the haze. She wasn't sure if she was ready to be bitten, or if she wanted him to do that. She felt uncomfortable with him drinking her blood. They hadn't reached that level of trust yet.

"Don't," she breathed, her hands at his shoulders, lightly trying to push him away. He didn't stop.

A sudden feeling of dizziness overcame Cameron. Her vision blurred, and everything seemed to be moving. She couldn't make out which way was right, and which was left. She could feel Eric's grip on her tighten, so much so that it hurt. He became violent.

Cameron screwed her eyes shut, then blinked several times to clear her vision. She became aware of holding onto soft leather. There was an intense pain in her throat. Cameron felt different. Something was wrong.

She could hear voices all around her, but couldn't understand any of them. Eric's grip on her tightened as he continued to drain of her blood.

Cameron focused on her hand that was clenched on Eric's shoulder. It wasn't her hand. It was feminine, but aged significantly and adorned with several large, bohemian rings. The strong scent of incense burned in her nostrils.

Her vision clouded as the pain intensified. Cameron cried out and struggled. She continued to scream and fight off Eric as he removed himself from her. Cameron rolled over in the bed to rest on her knees. Her hands were at her neck and throat, searching for the wound as she tried to steady her breathing.

There was no blood, no sign of a violent wound. There weren't even any puncture marks. The pain was completely gone. Her breathing slowed as she calmed down. Cameron conintued to hold a hand to her throat as she turned to Eric who was standing silently at the foot of the bed. He was watching her intently, unsure of what to do.

She took a deep breath and looked at him, rubbing her throat. She wasn't in any more pain, but she was still frightened. She wasn't sure what had happened.

Her eyes slowly widened as it dawned on her. It had been a vision. Eric had worn a blazer and button-up shirt, not a leather jacket.

"It was a vision," Cameron whispered. Eric sat down on the bed facing her. He pulled her hand away from her throat, which was red from her rubbing.

"What happened?" he asked seriously. She wasn't sure if he was worried about what freaked her out, or if he only cared about what she saw.

"You were attacking someone. Some lady. I don't know who. It was really weird," Cameron muttered, trying to make sense of what she had experienced. The vision had been completely different from any other that she had ever experienced. Not once had she ever experienced a vision from the point of view of someone involved. She was always an anonymous observer in her visions. She didn't know what this new development. Never had she wished to know someone like herself so much as she did then. She was frightened by the new experience and longed to be able to talk to someone about it that would understand.

"How?" Eric pushed. He didn't make any move to comfort her. Cameron was partly glad for that. She didn't need to be any more intimate with Eric. Though, the feeling of being alone intensified slightly at not having anyone to comfort her.

"I was her," she said simply. Eric remained silent. It was clear that Cameron didn't have any more to add. It was also clear that they weren't going to continue what they had started before the vision.

Eric stood from the bed and started to re-button his shirt. Cameron became awkwardly aware that she wasn't wearing a shirt and that her leggings had been pulled down to her thighs.

She stood from the bed and pulled up her leggings, then picked up her shirt from the floor. As she pulled it right-side-out, Eric pulled on his blazer and pulled a small cell phone from his pocket. He quickly checked it, then looked up at her.

"I have to go," he said, then was gone in a flash. Cameron sighed, then pulled on her shirt and went to the living area to open that bottle of vodka he had left.

It had been a strange night and she didn't feel like sleeping yet.

* * *

><p>"Nail In My Coffin" by the Kills<p>

Just curious, does anyone listen to any of the songs I've posted?


	14. Handsome Devil

I think y'all are gonna like this chapter.

And seriously, do y'all listen to these songs? Just wondering.

* * *

><p>Cameron stared out onto the back yard from the front door. It was pouring rain; the results of a late in the season tropical storm. Melanie had taken Jackson to some other after school activity; something she had signed him up for as soon as soccer was over. Cameron had the house all to herself; the only problem was that she wasn't looking forward to running through the rain.<p>

Cameron shut the door and went into her bedroom in search of rain boots or a jacket. She tore apart her closet looking for something. All she could turn up were sandals, boat shoes, and sneakers. She couldn't even find an umbrella or rain jacket. She slapped a hand to her forehead when she remembered that the umbrella was in her car, and her rain boots and jacket were in a bin in the garage, along with all of her old camping and sports equipment.

She slipped on her sneakers without socks; they were just gonna get soaking wet. Cameron pulled out a trash bag to turn into a make-shift poncho, but it was much too small to do any good. She was more likely to suffocate herself than protect herself from the rain.

Once again, Cameron stood in the doorway of her front door, staring out at the rain. She was waiting for it to let up, but it seemed like it was just coming down heavier the longer she waited. She finally worked up the courage and moved as quickly as she could. She slammed the door shut behind her as she did her best to dash down the stairs without slipping on them. There were a few close calls as her feet failed to find decent traction on the slick, wet wood. Without the railing, she probably would have fallen and broken something several times over.

Cameron made it to the end of the stairs successfully and ran as fast as she possibly could across the grass to the back porch. About halfway through, Cameron slid in a large puddle. She shifted her balance to stay upright, but overcompensated, and end up falling to the ground. She slipped a few times in her haste to get up. Once she was finally up, Cameron gave up on the running and walked dejectedly towards the back door. She was already soaking wet. Grass clung to her bare legs, arms, face, and her clothes. Luckily it hadn't been a mud puddle.

Under the safety of the back porch awning, Cameron unlocked the back door, took off her shoes, and gathered her hair up into a messy bun at the top of her head. The closest towel would have been in the laundry room, and Cameron would have had to cross a few rugs to get there. She wasn't in the mood to clean, and Melanie would have killed her if she made a mess or tracked rainwater into the house.

Cameron peeled her shirt off, which had been white. She thanked god that nobody had been home to see that, though it really wouldn't have mattered anyway. She wrung out the water, then used the wet shirt to wipe off the grass and excess water.

"Don't you look nice." Cameron froze. She straightened up, and looked over her shoulder to see Eric sitting in one of the deck chairs, looking very much amused.

"Why do you always do that?" Cameron shouted at him. She was getting a little annoyed with him just showing up randomly. Would it kill him to call first? Eric just smiled in return.

Cameron scowled, abandoned her shirt on the ground next to her shoes, then moved into the house where Eric couldn't follow. She found a nice, clean towel in the laundry room, as well as a pair of her sister's yoga pants and a t-shirt. She changed quickly there in the laundry room, then went back into the kitchen. Eric was waiting patiently at the back door.

"What do you want?" Cameron asked him as she started to pull out left over pizza from the refrigerator.

"Many things," Eric answered. Cameron ignored him and took a large bite out of a cold slice of pizza.

"Specifically," Cameron prodded.

Eric remained silent. Cameron watched him look around the inside of the house as she ate her cold pizza. She noticed that he was completely dry. She didn't even want to know how he did it.

"I need to speak with you," he said, his gaze settling on Cameron, who was leaning against the back of a chair as she ate.

"OK," Cameron shrugged, waiting for him to start.

"Inside."

"You can't come in here. And I am not going back outside until it stops raining," Cameron scoffed. She wasn't exactly willing to get soaking wet again.

"I'll make sure you don't fall again," Eric promised with a smirk. Cameron's eyes widened in embarrassment, that Eric had seen her slip in a puddle, then her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. He had been watching her make a fool of herself.

"Dick," Cameron muttered, then stuffed the remaining pizza crust in her mouth as she went to go find an umbrella. She came back a moment later, a large umbrella in hand. She joined Eric on the back porch and opened the umbrella. She handed it to Eric, then picked up her wet clothes and shoes. She didn't see much point in putting them back on, so she went barefoot. Eric was close to her side, holding the umbrella up as they crossed the yard, and ascended the still slippery stair case. Since she wasn't in such a hurry, Cameron didn't slip once. Eric probably would have caught her if she did, but she was glad the opportunity hadn't cropped up.

Once inside the dark, but warm, apartment, Cameron dried her feet, dumped her wet clothes and shoes in the bathtub, and sat next to Eric on the couch in the living area.

"You don't ever come into contact with other vampires, correct?" Eric started. Cameron shook her head.

"Just you and Pam. And the bartender," Cameron answered. Eric appeared to be in thought for a while before he spoke again.

"Nobody approaches you at Fangtasia?" he asked. Cameron shook her head again. Eric's questions were starting to worry her.

"Is something wrong?" Cameron asked. Eric was hardly ever direct, unless it involved sex, so she figured she would cut time and get to the point herself.

"You know better than to let strangers into your home, but does your sister?"

"Duh. She's the most paranoid person ever." Eric nodded in understanding.

There were several bright flashes of light outside- lightning. A few distant claps of thunder sounded. The storm was getting worse.

"I have reason to believe that your safety is in jeopardy," Eric said, a look of what Cameron understood to be concern on his face. It was an odd expression for Eric. She didn't think it suited him.

"Oh," Cameron wasn't sure what else to say.

"I must ask you to not leave your home at night and exercise caution when alone," Eric warned.

"Can I still come to Fangtasia?" she asked. She hated being at Fangtasia, but those three nights a week were about the only time she got to leave the house, besides the store or the gym if she could drag herself out of bed early enough.

"I believe that's the problem."

"So some rando vamps have been lusting after me at a bar. That's not so different from human dudes at a normal bar," Cameron chuckled. Once again, the danger of vampires escaped her mind.

"Your self-preservation instincts seem to be nonexistent," Eric smiled as he draped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her into him. He leaned back into the couch, taking Cameron with him.

"I like to think that if I was really in danger, I would see it," Cameron said quietly, after several moments of silence. She played with a button on Eric's shirt as he looked down at her.

"Considering how many times you've told me how unpredictable your visions are, I'm reluctant to take part in that belief."

"OK, well, you're the king or whatever, right?"

"Sheriff, not king," Eric corrected.

"Whatever. Sheriff. You're the authority. People don't fuck with friends of the authority," Cameron finished.

"You consider us friends?" Eric asked.

"For lack of a better term," she explained.

"Vampires don't exactly think that way. And it's about time I explained vampire hierarchy to you. I am most definitely not the Authority," he said.

"I barely understand American government," Cameron sighed. The button she was playing with slipped out of the hole. She hadn't meant to do that.

"Each state is divided into areas, and each area has a sheriff. Each state has a king or queen. Then there is the Authority," he explained simply. She really didn't need any more details than that. Cameron remembered how secretive vampires were, and didn't bother asking about the Authority. She figured that if it was important enough, Eric would have told her about it.

"Hey, is that woman on TV who always shows up whenever there's an attack or something, part of the Authority? She was on TV for like a month straight after that psycho killed that news anchor on live television." Cameron didn't see the broadcast in which Russell Edgington basically ruined it for vampires, but the video had gone viral and was all anyone could talk about for ages. The woman Cameron was referring to was also always on talk shows, or debates with religious leaders. She had shows up again on TV when that Newlin guy disappeared.

"Nan Flanagan, yes. She's a bitch."

"She's very diplomatic, but I always got the feeling that she was," Cameron wasn't at all surprised by Eric's assessment of her, or that he knew her personally. From what little she had seen, it seemed like the vampire community was a small one, or was at least close.

"I saw an ad for silver spray online once. Would that help me?" Cameron asked. She had moved on to the next button on Eric's shirt, though was careful not to unbutton that one too. She was the type of person that couldn't sit still for long, or had to keep herself and her hands occupied with something.

"It would buy you some time at the most."

"To what? I don't know the first thing about defending myself. I could call you, though, right?" she asked. She could run away, but not from a vampire. She could maybe throw a good punch, but that would hurt her more than it would a vampire. Cameron would have been in trouble if a human wanted to hurt her. If a vampire wanted to hurt her, she was utterly doomed.

"That would take too much time."

"So I'm fucked," Cameron deadpanned.

"Only by me, if I can help it." Cameron tilted her head up to glare at him. He was smirking and winked at her. Cameron settled herself back into his chest again, ignoring the lewd comment.

"There is a way that I can protect you. Two ways, actually," Eric said.

"Then why didn't you just do that instead of freaking me out?" Cameron pushed herself from his chest and looked at him pointedly.

"I got the feeling that you wouldn't appreciate if I did this without your permission," he explained.

"Did what?"

"Forced my blood on you and claimed you as mine," he answered easily.

"Oh is that all?" Cameron said sarcastically, not at all into the idea. Drinking someone's blood repulsed her. She wanted to gag. She could never understand how so many people could do V. As a feminist, she also didn't appreciate the idea of belonging to someone.

"With my blood in you, I would be able to feel what you feel, including fear and panic. I would know when you were in trouble. When a vampire lays claim on a human, that human becomes off-limits. Especially when the vampire is the sheriff," Eric explained casually.

"How long would the blood thing last?" Cameron asked. She was worried that she would have to keep taking his blood for it to work.

"One drop and we're connected until you die," he said.

"Damn," Cameron swore as she took in that information. She would be stuck with him forever. But considering that her only other option was to go it alone and possibly be killed, it didn't seem like such a bad idea.

"You're not just making this shit up, right? Like, I'm really in danger and these are literally the only ways to keep me safe? I swear to god if I find out you made this shit up just so I would drink your blood, I will end you," she threatened. She hoped that Eric was above petty manipulation, but she was all too aware that he was capable of that.

"I would prefer that you take my blood, but you can wait if you want to."

"How would people know if I was yours? More weird vampire magic?" Cameron was genuinely interested in the concept.

Eric easily shifted Cameron's position, pulling her nearly onto his lap, holding her close. He kissed her. Cameron could feel his fangs, but didn't stop. His lips moved along her jaw to just below her ear. He kissed her slowly, and moved down her neck. Breathing heavily, Cameron knew what would happen next.

She gasped in pain as Eric bit into her flesh. It was an odd sensation. The pain quickly subsided into a much more pleasurable feeling. Cameron never imagined that being bitten by a vampire would feel so good.

Cameron pulled Eric closer, as close as she could. Her body moved all on its own. She pressed herself to him, ground her hips against his. He let out a low moan as he continued to drink her blood.

Cameron closed her eyes in pure bliss. When she opened them, she was flat on her back, Eric on top of her, on her bed. Being with a vampire had its perks, including no more awkward fumbling towards the bedroom. Not a single thing was awkward about Eric. He acted with confidence and skill.

It was surely a night that Cameron would come to regret, but she was having too much fun living in the moment.

* * *

><p>"Handsome Devil" by the Smiths<p> 


	15. Salt in the Wound

I'm so sorry this took so long! My semester just started, and I probably rewrote this like, 6 times. I just couldn't get it where I wanted it until now! It's also not as long as I had hoped it would be, but better than nothing, right?

I'm also creating a playlist of all of the songs I've used so far over on 8track. I'll post the link once that's all together and ready.

* * *

><p>Cameron slept well into the afternoon after her night with Eric. He had left her apartment a few hours before dawn, and had left her utterly exhausted. The exhaustion was a result of not only a good workout, but of extensive blood loss. Cameron was nearly delirious by the time Eric left, and passed out soon after.<p>

As soon as she woke up nearly thirteen hours later, she stumbled into the kitchenette and ate as much as she could. She sprawled out on the couch and waited until she felt better to move again. Just moving from her bedroom to the kitchenette had left her feeling slightly dizzy.

A whole hour after waking up, Cameron was able to sit up without getting vertigo. She stretched, causing a series of loud pops from her vertebrae. She was sore, but was feeling better, Cameron took a shower.

She towel dried her hair, got dressed, then stared at herself in the mirror. She was quite pale, and had two very obvious, very fresh little puncture marks on her neck. The bite mark had scabbed over, and looked slightly healed, but the surrounding skin was still red.

At the moment, Cameron didn't care. She wasn't going anywhere. She was much too tired. Even just taking a shower had drained what little energy she had.

Cameron went back into her bedroom and took a three hour nap. When she woke up again, it was nearly dusk. She was feeling much better, and was incredibly hungry.

Cameron went down to the main house to sneak some food from the kitchen there, and found the house to be empty. Checking the calendar that Melanie kept on the fridge, she had taken Jackson to some fine arts night at his school. She felt slightly bad for not going, but it was better that she didn't show up with bite marks on her neck. Looking at the calendar, Cameron also remembered that it was one of her three nights of the week to go to Fangtasia.

As she ate as much as she could from Melanie's kitchen, Cameron wondered how likely it was that she could get out of going to the club. She had given Eric what he wanted, so shouldn't he give her a night off? Cameron had a feeling that he wouldn't see it that way. He was quite demanding. He could take, but never give. Cameron was more or less being forced to give, and lacked the power to take.

Cameron went back to her apartment to get ready with a full stomach. She was feeling much better. She pulled on a pair of tight jeans, strapped on some sandals, and pulled on a flowy, almost sheer long-sleeved, black tunic. She didn't care enough for jewelry or much make up, so she only swept on a bit of dark eye shadow and a quick layer of mascara. However, she expertly covered up the bite marks. Cameron had been taught to apply make-up by Melanie, who was a professional at covering up hickeys.

It was the weekend, so the Fangtasia parking lot was quite full. It took Cameron a few rounds to find a parking spot that wasn't in a creepy dark corner or half-way down the street.

Cameron walked into the club and went straight to the bar. She was feeling up for a drink. Before she could order, Pam was at her side. She grasped Cameron's elbow in a vice-like grip.

"Are you fucking stupid?" she hissed in Cameron's ear.

"Uhh… what?" Cameron's response basically answered Pam's rude question.

Pam huffed, rolled her eyes, then forcefully pulled her to the bathroom. She pushed Cameron up to the sinks, snatched a paper towel from the dispenser, and ran it under the sink briefly to make it damp. Pam roughly pushed Cameron's hair over her shoulder and started wiping off the make-up on her neck.

"What are you doing?" Cameron grabbed at Pam's hands, but it was a useless gesture against the much stronger vampire.

"The whole fucking point of being bitten in such an obvious place is that it's _obvious._ Meaning everyone can _see_ it," Pam explained as she continued to wipe at Cameron's neck.

"Wait. What?" Cameron repeated. She wasn't exactly following the reasoning. Pam stopped her movements, and looked Cameron in the eye, giving her a look that made Cameron actually feel very stupid.

"This marks you as Eric's. The whole fucking point of him biting and claiming you as his was so other vampires would stop sniffing around you," Pam explained, giving Cameron's neck one final rough swipe. She tossed the make-up covered paper towel into the trash bin in the corner of the bathroom and placed a hand on her popped hip. "Get it?"

"What do you mean 'stop'?" Cameron asked. Had other vampires been lurking around her without her noticing? Pam was right. Maybe she was stupid. She should have realized that she was being very conspicuous and that her odd presence in a vampire club would be of interest to nosy vampires. Who comes to a bar full of vampires and crazy humans in the bad part of town to _read_? Cameron thought back to how Eric had on several occasions publicly acknowledged her. The sheriff of the area paying attention to some seemingly random human must have been odd to an outsider, too.

Pam didn't answer her. She could tell that Cameron knew exactly what she meant.

"Is he in his office?" Cameron asked, suddenly not feeling very well again. Pam sighed and nodded. The fatigue, blood loss, and soreness were catching up with her again.

Cameron knocked on the door to Eric's office and waited until he opened the door and let her in.

"Back for more?" Eric smirked seductively, stepped forward, and placed his hands on Cameron's arms.

"Not to sound like a jealous girlfriend, but did you bite me because you care about me and wanted to keep me safe, or because you didn't want other vampires getting nosy and wanted to mark your territory?" Cameron asked directly with a steely expression. She wasn't in the mood to be trifled with.

"Perhaps a little of both," Eric answered vaguely.

"So you care about me and want to keep me safe, and also don't want to put me in potential danger if and when another vampire realizes something is up with why I come here so often and finds out about me," Cameron clarified.

"You're no good to me dead."

Cameron pulled herself from Eric's grasp and turned her back on him. She was hurt, but not enough to become emotional over it. She had half expected it even before she hooked up with him. She was mostly upset over the fact that she had known that she would pin too many emotions and feelings on Eric, feelings that he would not reciprocate, which would result in her wanting more and him wanting nothing but blood and sex with the occasional vision.

Cameron was a relationship kind of girl. She had grown up watching boys court her older sister. They would bring her flowers and gifts. She remembered watching dates slip a corsage on Melanie's wrist before some formal or dance. She remembered boys coming up to the door, speaking with their father, and then taking Melanie out on some fabulous date or party, and then hearing all about it from Melanie the next day. Boys had always pulled out all the romantic stops for Melanie, and Cameron had always been slightly jealous. She never expected any guy to do the same for her, though. She never had a date to any formals, and only went to parties with a group of friends. She had been on only a handful of dates in college, and none of them had been anything to write home about. Cameron had never experienced romance first hand, and didn't necessarily expect it.

Eric wasn't a romantic in any sense. He was decent to look at, one hell of a lover, and very possessive. Cameron doubted that she would ever get flowers or any sort of gift from him. He wasn't the kind of guy to cuddle after sex. He was sex with no emotional strings attached. It was business as usual.

Cameron was foolish to think even for a second anything different than that. She should have known that she was nothing more than a few hours of entertainment and his own personal crystal ball.

Despite her feelings, Cameron couldn't hold it against Eric. It wasn't his fault. Eric was being Eric and she was stupid to expect anything different. He didn't do anything wrong. She should have had more self control.

Even though, he had still manipulated her. Or failed to give her all of the information.

"OK, just so you know, what happened last night is never going to happen again. We go back to being totally professional and you can just tell people I'm your property or whatever, so you don't have to bite me anymore," Cameron explained after turning back around. She faced Eric with a confident and determined expression. She was laying down the law. He smirked when she was finished.

"We'll see how long that lasts," he said. He looked down on her, and Cameron didn't like it. He was using his size to intimidate her, but she held her ground.

"Also, way to kiss and tell. Did you go home and gossip with Pam as soon as you left my place? Not cool," Cameron scolded, causing Eric to smile again.

"My progeny and I have no secrets," he explained. Cameron rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Another thing- if you think someone is getting a little too interested in me, tell them to fuck off, or rip off their head, or do whatever it is you do to intimidate other vampires. Seriously, use your title as sheriff. Knock a few heads together so they know whose boss," Cameron suggested. She didn't really know how vampire society worked, but she could take a few guesses.

"That sort of reaction would be an admission that you mean something to me." Cameron blanched. She knew vampires were cold and emotionally unavailable, but she hadn't realized how far that went until Eric laid it all out for her.

"Well, OK." Cameron spluttered; she didn't know how else to respond. She nodded her head repeatedly, letting the words sink in.

"Meaning," Eric said loudly to gain back Cameron's attention, "that the last thing we need is for anyone to get suspicious about my involvement with you. If anyone learned about your unique ability, you would be in great danger. If anyone discovered our partnership, something could happen to you in an effort to get to me," Eric explained. He seemed to be unaware of the intense pain Cameron was feeling in her chest, but recognized how harsh his words must have sounded. "Because of my position, I have to be careful."

"Still just trying to cover your ass?" Cameron muttered. It was difficult for her to speak. She was slightly ashamed at how she was feeling. She knew what she was getting into; she had been preparing herself for this. Yet actually hearing the words from him were so completely different forms how she imagined it. It was far worse in reality.

"To save your own!" Eric roared. Cameron winced at his outburst. She hadn't been expecting such a display of emotion from him and was caught off guard. She still didn't appreciate his tone, though.

"Well, I never asked to get involved in this anyway! I never wanted to get stuck in some ridiculous contract with an asshole vampire who owns a tacky bar and treats people like shit! I get enough of this from my sister; I don't need the guilt trip from you either! Neither you nor Melanie are my mother! I am so _fucking_ over this entire goddamn thing!" Cameron soldiered through a few tears and took a deep breath. "I'm tired of this shithole of a town and not having any friends besides my bitch sister and _you_ and a freaking cat! My life has turned to shit! But I'm changing that. I quit!" Cameron ranted. She used her hands to gesture wildly at Eric.

She had never in her entire life blown up like that. She was used to bottling up her feelings and hiding them away. As a teenager, she had to keep everything in check because her mother was wildly paranoid about her daughter's mental health. To Cameron, it seemed that all of her problems in life boiled down to her visions. She was self-conscious and eager to please people, thinking it would somehow make up for the mental anomaly. She always felt different and isolated because of the strange ability. It didn't help matters when her mother and doctors were convinced that she was a schizo.

"Why don't you speak up, honey? I think there are people down the street that didn't hear that little speech of yours," Pam stood by the door of the office, clearly not amused by the situation. Cameron hadn't even realized when she came in.

"Pamela," Eric warned.

"No, it's fine. I'll go," Cameron wiped her face with her sleeves and straightened her shirt. She moved to leave, but Eric stepped in front of her.

"Leave us, Pam," Eric commanded. Pam rolled her eyes and silently left the office, closing the door behind her.

"Move. I want to leave," Cameron weakly tried to push him away, but he didn't budge.

"We're not done. I can tell that you still have a few things you want to get off your chest," Eric pushed her towards the black couch in his office and forced her to sit. Cameron didn't put up much of a fight, though.

"I'm done. I'm completely done. I get it. I'm useful to you, and you would be inconvenienced if something happened to me. Nothing more." Cameron didn't know what she expected Eric to say, but she was surprised when he remained silent. Several minutes passed by until he did speak.

"Forgive me. I have misled you, and I apologize. You are important to me, and I would be far more than inconvenienced if something were to happen to you. I cannot afford to lose you; you mean far too much," Eric said with what Cameron was surprised to discover was sincerity. From what she could tell, he meant every word. Though she still questioned what exactly she meant to him, the important thing was that she mattered.

"Ok," Cameron couldn't come up with anything else to say. She had a bit of a feeling that Eric was trying to appease her, to calm her down so that she would stop making such a fuss. He was hardly declaring his undying love for her, which was fine, but she didn't know how to respond. She wasn't sure that she liked him anymore. He was still horrifyingly attractive, and there was always a small part of her that wanted to undress him and have her way with him constantly, but the part that was telling her how bad an idea it was to be anywhere near him was starting to gain more footing. Cameron's responsible side, the part of her that focused solely on self preservation, was starting to take up a bit more room.

Eric didn't seem to know what was going on inside Cameron's head. He closed the gap between them and brushed Cameron's hair over her shoulders and away from her face. Cameron never wanted to admit it, but the feeling of someone playing with her hair was great, especially when Eric did it.

Cameron wondered what she had done to give herself away when Eric continued to stroke her hair away from her face. The action was no longer serving a purpose, other than to be in contact with Cameron. It was hard for Cameron to not melt.

She couldn't conceive how he Eric could be so sweet to her, then be a gigantic ass and ruin everything, and then fix it all again. Cameron was usually slow to forgive, but it seemed Eric could get himself out of just about anything with her. She was moving into dangerous territory.

Cameron didn't know what to do with herself. So she kept her arms to her sides, and stared straight ahead at Eric's chest. He put a light hand on Cameron's hip as the other continued stroking her hair. Cameron's breathing intensified when his hand in her hair stopped. He stroked his thumb over her cheekbone, and then moved his hand to her neck. He pushed her chin up, tilting her face towards his own.

Cameron had no trouble figuring out where things were going. Resigned to her fate, Cameron expedited things and put her hands on either side of Eric's face and pulled him down to her, kissing him fiercely. She was frustrated in so many ways, including sexually, and needed a release. Melanie and countless soccer coaches had always preached the stress relieving benefits of exercise, and Cameron intended to take advantage of the situation.

If she couldn't change her situation, she might as well just go along with it and enjoy the ride.

* * *

><p>"Salt in the Wound" by Delta Spirit<p> 


	16. Ashamed

To help make up for my terrible absence, I give you the longest chapter I've ever written. I've mapped out where this story is going, so hopefully that will help me get it out sooner. We'll see!

Thanks for all the lovely reviews. Honest to god, feedback is a huge motivator. I always try to get my shit done faster whenever I get a new notification for a review alert!

* * *

><p>Cameron left Fangtasia a lot later than she usually did. Eric let her out the back door, allowing her to avoid the crowd. He watched her to make sure she made it to her car safely, and went back inside once she was pulling onto the street in her old Jeep.<p>

She wasn't exactly sure what was wrong with her, to think that having sex with Eric in his office, during business hours, and after huge fight, would be a good idea. Cameron left Fangtasia feeling even more confused than when she went there. She was even more unsure of her standing with Eric.

Sleep didn't come easily to Cameron that night. Sex always complicates things. She knew that. She had witness the very idiom when her sister starting hooking up with a friend in high school, and through several of her own friends. She had experienced it herself in college. But apparently learning the lesson once wasn't enough.

As she lay awake in bed, Cameron realized that she had made the worst mistake possible. She had gotten in too deep.

Being with Eric was like nothing Cameron had ever experienced, or could imagine. He was an exquisite lover. He also came with a lot of strings attached. To be with him, Cameron was sacrificing so much. She was putting her life on hold for him, which was something she never thought she would be capable of doing. Cameron never imagined that she would be one of those girls that would do anything for a guy. But it was somehow worth it.

The way Eric made Cameron feel was worth it all. The danger, the violence, the constant threat, the fear, the mind games- they were all risks she was willing to deal with.

Cameron was disgusted with herself. She was wholeheartedly ashamed of herself. She had allowed herself to be manipulated by Eric for his own personal gain. She had known, deep down, and still let him get away with everything. She was putty in his hands.

While trying to force herself to sleep, Cameron wondered when she had become so desperate for attention. It was no secret that she hated Louisiana and Shreveport, that she wasn't happy living in the apartment above her sister's garage, and that she had no friends or career to fill her time. Somehow, Cameron had lost herself, and Eric found her.

Eric had given Cameron's empty life a meaning, a purpose. It may not have been noble or good, but it was something. He made her feel needed and desired. No matter how sick the situation was, it felt nice to be needed and wanted by someone, especially someone so handsome.

Growing up, male attention usually went to the classic beauty that was Melanie. Cameron was the brain and the jock; Melanie was the flirt and the heartbreaker. Having a guy so openly interested in her was new to Cameron.

Eric was someone who knew exactly what he wanted, and he made sure he got it. It was oddly flattering that he wanted her. Cameron knew he could have anyone, and he had chosen her. She was partly horrified that it had been that easy to woo her, and still partly lovesick.

Eric tried to manipulate her, but he didn't have to try very hard. It's not exactly manipulation if she wanted it almost as badly as he did. She should have exercised more caution, but she couldn't blame him.

No matter how she felt, the important thing was thing was that it had already happened. Twice. And there was no going back and changing that. Cameron firmly stowed away her feelings and doubts and did her best to sleep. She thought of a chore list, what she could do to update her resume, created a shopping list, and thought of the top five places she most wanted to visit in the world. She wondered when applications for grad school were due, how hard it would be to get in, or how difficult it would be to keep up with it after having been out of school for a while, or if grad school was even a good idea or not. She filled her mind with so many ordinary things. Cameron needed to worry about the normal things.

It wasn't healthy for a 24 year old to stress out about having visions to please her vampire boss that she also had a sexual relationship with. It just wasn't normal.

But Cameron had never been normal. She lost all hope for normalcy once her visions started.

When Cameron woke up the next day, she was content with the fact that she was not normal, and that her life would never be normal, either. The supernatural was always going to be in her life, and she could never do a thing to stop it. So why bother?

Cameron wasn't going to quit working for Eric, even though she was pretty sure he would never let her anyway. But she would need to work harder at maintaining boundaries with him.

Eager to get her mind off of Eric for once, Cameron gathered her hair up in a messy bun on the top of her head. She rummaged through a bathroom drawer until she found a roll of athletic tape, ripped off a length of it, tied it into a loop, and put her around her head as a headband. It was a trick she had picked up in high school. The athletic tape stayed in her smooth hair better than elastic sports headbands, and if she ever lost it, she had could always make more.

Cameron put on a sports bra, an old tank that she was pretty sure belonged to Melanie, due to the unrecognizable Greek letters emblazoned across the chest in LSU purple and gold. It took Cameron a while to find her running shoes, but once she found them under a pile of old scarves and an old warm-up jersey from college, she pulled on a pair of leggings and pulled the shoes on.

Cameron hopped down the steps, eager to go for a run for the first time in weeks. Nearly months. She stretched a bit, then took off down the driveway in a light jog, and picked up speed once she hit the street corner.

Because it had been so long since the last time she had worked out, Cameron wasn't able to think about anything besides putting one foot in front of the other, and not running in front of a car. It was a much needed distraction.

Once she was satisfied and exhausted, which didn't take as long as Cameron had hoped, she headed back home and collapsed on the stairs leading up to her apartment. It took her ages to catch her breath, and the muscles in her legs were burning. It was a good feeling that brought back a lot of good memories. Memories of a simpler time, before she got mixed up with vampires.

Once she was able to move again, Cameron went inside and took a shower. She filled the rest of her day doing things, anything, that would take her mind off of the matters at hand.

As soon as the sun started to set, a feeling of dread settled itself into the pit of Cameron's stomach. She desperately hoped that she wouldn't get a visit from Eric.

At every little sound, Cameron jumped. She was nervous and anxious. She was dreading the moment that Eric would come waltzing through her door. She didn't, or couldn't, face him. She didn't have the resolve. A bit of separation was what she needed.

By the time 11:00 rolled around, Cameron decided that he probably wasn't going to come. She was able to settle down and crawled into bed. Unlike the night before, she fell asleep easily. She still thought of Eric, but her body was too tired to let her worry all night.

Several hours after falling asleep, Cameron was woken up. Bo was lying on her back, purring. Barely awake, Cameron disturbed Bo by rolling over, forcing the cat to jump off the bed. Rolling back onto her stomach, Cameron blindly reached out for another pillow, but hit something hard, jamming her fingers.

"Motherfucker!" Cameron cried out in pain, sitting up, and going to turn on the lamp next to her bed. Cradling her hand to her chest, blinking a few times to adjust to the new light, Cameron swore again at the sight of Eric lounging next to her on the bed.

"Sorry to disturb you," Eric said, though his smile told Cameron that he wasn't sorry about anything. Bo jumped back up on the bed and settled himself on top of the sheets, separating Cameron and Eric. Smart cat.

"What do you want?" Cameron sighed, flexing her fingers. She avoided his gaze.

"Just thought I'd check up on you. I care about you, remember?" he answered while smoothly pulling himself up into a sitting position. He leaned against the headboard and clasped his hands behind his head. He looked right at home.

"How long have you been here?" Cameron ignored him and asked her own question.

"Not long," he replied vaguely.

"Well, you're creepy. Like, it is seriously messed up to sneak into my house, and into my bed while I'm asleep, and then just _sit_ there while I sleep. Get a hobby." Cameron pulled away the covers, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and got up. Eric stayed put.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Away." Cameron shot him a dirty look over her shoulder as she left her bedroom. Not trusting the vampire, Bo leapt off the bed and followed Cameron.

Cameron flipped on the light in the kitchenette and looked for a clean glass. Finding a seemingly clean one on the counter by the sink, Cameron examined it carefully, and sniffed it a few times to make sure it truly was clean. She went to get ice from the freezer, but only found an empty ice tray. Even though it was the twenty first century, the freezer was ancient, and came from a time before automatic ice makers.

Cameron huffed in annoyance, and filled her glass with tap water. By the time she turned away from the sink, Eric was leaning against the countertop, watching her.

"Seriously, you're giving off a creepy vibe," Cameron eyed Eric warily. She felt like he was up to something.

"How am I being creepy?" Eric laughed. Cameron didn't appreciate it.

"I swear to God, if you don't leave me alone, I'll rescind my invitation. Don't push me," Cameron warned. Despite the lateness of the hour, Cameron could still manage a threatening tone.

"Well aren't you an accommodating hostess," Eric mocked her. She openly glared at him. He seemed to get that she was being serious and changed his attitude.

"Have you had any visions recently?" he asked, getting to the reason for his visit.

"You came all the way over here to ask me that? Seriously, learn to text. It would save so much time."

"But then I wouldn't get to enjoy time spent with you," he countered. Cameron rolled her eyes.

"Seriously," Cameron scoffed.

"Playing hard to get, I see. I don't mind a challenge. I always end up getting what I want," Eric said, standing up straight and moving away from the counter.

"So this is also a booty call," Cameron clarified.

"Call it what you want," Eric shrugged.

"Well, the shop is closed." Cameron left the kitchenette, putting distance between them.

"You sure about that?" Eric followed her. Every time he got close, Cameron used evasive maneuvers. Eric could have easily stopped her, but he seemed to enjoy being the cat to Cameron's mouse. He truly was a predator, and one that enjoyed toying with his prey.

"I would very much like to go back to bed now," Cameron said, "and you're not invited," she added before Eric could say anything. He pouted.

"Call me if you change your mind," he said, and then Eric was gone. She was surprised that he had given up so easily, but she was happy nonetheless.

Cameron had successfully been able to avoid Melanie for most of the week, but she was forced to venture into the main house when the washing machine in the garage broke the day after Eric visited Cameron.

She tried to sneak into the house without being noticed, but as she was starting a load of darks, Melanie came into the laundry room carrying a basket full of Jackson's clothes.

"Well, well, well, long time, no see!" Melanie said as she dropped the basket on the floor and smiled at her sister.

"Hey," Cameron offered as a weak greeting.

"What have you been up to? I feel like I haven't seen you in ages," Melanie asked her sister as she started folding a mound of towels that had come from the dryer.

"Oh, you know," Cameron shrugged.

"Been hanging out with your friends? What were their names? The lesbians?" Melanie asked.

"Pam and Erica," Cameron replied. She cringed at the continuation of the pathetic lie.

"Right. Been going out with them?" Melanie continued. She seemed to be fishing for an answer.

"No, not really. And I'm still not a lesbian," Cameron said, answering Melanie's unasked question. Melanie nodded, glad at her sister's answer, and that she wouldn't have to actually verbalize what she was wondering.

"Why not? I mean, why don't you hang out with them anymore?" Melanie asked. Cameron really wasn't happy with the direction that their conversation was going in. She could easily predict what Melanie would say, even if she couldn't see the future. She would inevitably bring up Cameron's lack of a social life, or any responsibilities, or any reason for living.

"We don't have that much in common. I don't like them anymore," Cameron answered plainly. It was half true. She had nothing in common with Pam and Eric. She was indifferent to Pam, and was constantly on the fence with Eric. She could easily hate him, and the next minute she would be having sex with him in his office.

"You know what, I think you should get a job," Melanie started. Cameron rolled her eyes and huffed. "No, seriously. You need to fill your days with _something_."

"I'm good. If I get a job, then it'll just be that much harder to leave," Cameron said.

"Do you really have plans to leave? Where would you go? Back to Dallas?"

Cameron shrugged. She really hadn't given much thought to her future. All she knew was that she didn't want to be in Shreveport anymore.

"I don't know. I kind of thought about maybe grad school," Cameron replied. It wasn't a serious thought, but it was one that she had entertained a few times.

"What for?"

"I don't know yet," Cameron shrugged again.

"That's the worst idea ever. It would just be another excuse for you to waste more time. You're so determined to not be an adult and take responsibility. Grad school would just allow you to put off your life for another four years or five years. Unless you are really serious about this, then I don't think it's a good idea."

"It was just a thought. Jesus…" Melanie glared at her sister. The sisters glared at each other for a moment, then went back to their work in silence.

"I want you to start paying rent," Melanie finally broke the silence.

"What? Why?" Cameron demanded. That had never been in the agreement. If she moved to Shreveport to help Melanie with Jackson, then she lived for free.

"It's just not fair that all you do is sit up there all day and do nothing while the rest of us work. You don't even help out around the house that much. Either get a job or move out, because I won't let you live here anymore if you don't pay rent," Melanie laid down the new law. Cameron blanched.

"Seriously?" Was all she could manage for a counter argument. Melanie brought up great points, and Cameron couldn't help but agree. But the fact that she was being told what to do by her sister soured the entire idea.

"Seriously."

It took Cameron a couple of days to realize that Melanie really was serious. She was like a nagging housewife, always reminding her younger sister that she had rent due. Cameron was at first opposed to the idea of getting a job, but eventually decided that it was probably for the best.

Getting a job meant that it would be harder to leave Shreveport, but as Melanie liked to remind her, she didn't have any other real alternatives. It wouldn't hurt to have a steady income and some structure in her life, anyway. Cameron's life lacked responsibility, and she was just wasting her time.

It also didn't take long for Cameron to realize that her obligations to Eric would probably get in the way.

When Cameron went to Fangtasia later that week, she was determined to have a serious conversation with Eric. She had sent out a few resumes and had even set up a meeting with one of Melanie's friends' husbands.

Pam wasn't at her usual spot, manning the door, and when Cameron got inside the club, she couldn't find either her or Eric on the pretentious stage or in the crowd. Avoiding the indecently dressed club patrons, Cameron walked up to the door of Eric's office and knocked. Knowing him, it wouldn't have been a good idea to just barge in.

Pam opened the door and looked down at her. Cameron really couldn't understand Pam's style. Some nights she dressed like a politician's wife, others she fit in perfectly with the Fangtasia crowd. Both looks worked for her, but both looks were on opposite ends of the fashion spectrum. Cameron didn't even want to try and figure out Pam.

"Your ears must have been burning; we were just talking about you," Pam drawled, opening the door wider and letting Cameron into the office.

"That can't be good," Cameron dropped her purse on the couch and sat down next to it. Eric was sitting behind his desk, and Pam walked across the room to stand next to him. They both focused their attention on Cameron.

"Have anything to report?" Eric asked.

"Yes, but it's probably not what you had in mind," Cameron answered. Pam arched an eyebrow.

"Do tell," she prodded.

"My sister is forcing me to start paying rent, so I'm getting a job. I wanted to talk about maybe cutting back on how often I come here. And I haven't had any visions in a while. Not even little, insignificant ones," said Cameron. Pam's expression mirrored Eric's. Cameron wasn't really sure how to describe it. Whatever they were feeling, it was scary how in-sync they were. Seeing Pam and Eric together always made Cameron wonder how the whole maker/progeny relationship worked, but she doubted anyone would explain it to her.

"Your marks have healed," Eric said, seemingly ignoring Cameron. Confused, Cameron looked to Pam for some sort of clarification, found none, then looked back to Eric, still confused.

"What?"

"If you're going to work here, you'll need to be marked," Eric continued, as if that would explain everything.

"Wait. What?" Cameron repeated. She wasn't sounding or feeling very intelligent. She felt like she was missing a huge piece of the conversation.

"You have an education, yes?" Eric asked.

"Yes," Cameron answered.

"And a degree?"

"Yeah."

"And work experience?"

"Yeah."

"Then you start immediately."

"What?"

"She must be stupid…" Pam muttered, rolling her eyes and looking away from Cameron's display of utter idiocy.

"No, I get that you're trying to give me a job here. I just don't get why, or what I would do, of if we're even on the same page here," Cameron tried to describe her confusion.

"Business has dropped thanks to those fucking idiots and fucking Russell Edgington," Pam started.

"The psycho who killed someone on live TV," Cameron clarified; Eric nodded.

"We need to bring in more customers," Pam finished. Cameron nodded, finally getting a hold of where the conversation was going.

"Do you think this is something you can handle?" Eric asked Cameron.

"I graduated and have a degree from one of the best business schools in the South, I'd say it's a safe bet," Cameron affirmed. She wasn't entirely sure what she was about to get into, but something about the idea felt right. Or at least she wasn't having any bad feelings. She couldn't pinpoint why, but taking the job Eric was offering her seemed like a good idea, or a good fit.

Everything about the deal seemed like a win-win situation. She was getting a job, Melanie wouldn't have to nag her all the time, she would have something to focus on, an income, and the job seemed interesting and engaging. Plus she would get to spend more time with Eric.

No. That wasn't good.

_What the hell am I thinking?_ Cameron wondered, as the thought of spending more time with Eric passed through her mind. Barely a week ago, she was cursing herself for spending too much time with him, for getting too wrapped up in him. And there she was, falling for his charm all over again.

"Good. I'll show you everything, and you can get started immediately," Eric said, standing from his desk chair. Pam left his side and headed towards the door.

"Wait!" Cameron exclaimed. Eric and Pam froze. "That's it?"

"What else would you like to discuss? You have a job now," Eric asked, sitting back down. Pam remained by the door, eager to leave.

"We haven't talked about hours, or compensation, or a contract, nothing!"

"How much would you like to be paid?" Eric asked. He waved a hand at Pam, and she left.

"Oh, I, uh... Whatever," Cameron shrugged. She was afraid to name any number, in case Eric had a different opinion. One thing she learned from being brought up in the South is that you never talk about money. "But it has to be legit! No shady envelopes full of cash! I want a real paycheck, signed by you, or whoever does payroll. Or you can direct deposit. Do you do that?"

"I don't do direct deposit."

"Well you should. It's so much easier. I never remember to go to the bank, and when I do, they're closed. You should look into it," Cameron suggested. Eric shook his head.

"As for hours," Eric changed the subject.

"However long you need me," Cameron said, answering his unasked question. At her answer, a wicked grin spread across his face.

"Be a professional boss, please," Cameron sighed and rolled her eyes at his behavior.

"I'm starting to see the appeal of the boss and secretary human fantasy," Eric continued to smirk as he leisurely leaned back in his desk chair.

"Say anything like that while I'm on the clock and I'm filing a sexual harassment report with HR," Cameron warned, putting as much conviction in her voice as possible. Eric continued to smirk lewdly, but Cameron thought that he got the message.

Even though he heard her, Cameron doubted he would listen. And she probably wouldn't hold him accountable.

* * *

><p>"Ashamed" by Deer Tick<p> 


	17. I've Had This Feeling Before

What the hell, I'm already at chapter 17? Thanks so much for all the reviews and support. Y'all are awesome.

In this chapter, we finally see a bit of interaction with other characters! And chapter 18 is on it's way!

* * *

><p>Cameron had been given a key of Fangtasia the same night she was hired. It oddly gave her a sense of power. Eric could come and go through her home whenever he pleased, and having the key to his business felt like it evened the playing field a little bit. There had been a power shift. It was a tiny little shift, but a shift all the same.<p>

She had also been given free reign of Eric's office. She had access to all the files, books, and records.

But the best part of working at Fangtasia (apart from seeing Eric all the time, without him being creepy), was getting Melanie off of her back. Cameron was quick to rub the fact that she had gotten a legitimate job in her older sister's face.

"So who hired you?" Melanie asked her sister over a celebratory dinner that she had cooked in honor of Cameron's success.

"A night club," Cameron answered simply. She wasn't about to tell her sister that she was working at the vampire bar, Fangtasia. Melanie had been there at least twice before, and wouldn't have much of a leg to stand on in terms of judgment. In fact, if Cameron really thought about it, Melanie was the reason why she was stuck with Eric. If it hadn't been for her forgetting her Blackberry all those months ago, she wouldn't have exposed her ability to Pam and Eric.

Despite that, Cameron was a little glad that she had met Eric. He had changed her life. He had also threatened to end her life on several occasions, but he had definitely kept Cameron on her toes. And now he was her employer.

"Which one?" Melanie pushed. She had asked Cameron several times, and gotten the same evasive answer.

"I already told you, I'm not telling," Cameron punctuated this by stuffing her mouth with part of a dinner roll.

"It's not a strip club, is it? You're not a stripper?" Melanie asked seriously. Cameron choked on her roll, then laughed.

"Jesus, you really think highly of me, don't you?"

"Then what are you doing? Can you at least tell me that?"

"Marketing stuff. You know, branding, gonna fix up the website, stuff like that. They're trying to bring in more people; nightlife around here has kinda taken a hit," Cameron explained.

"It's because of all these vampires. I don't get why they love the South so much," Melanie mused, pouring herself another glass of wine. She was drinking because Jackson was sleeping over at a friend's house.

"What makes you think there are more vampires in the South?" Cameron challenged. All Melanie could do was shrug her shoulders.

"You're not going to be working night club hours, are you? I don't want you staying out all night," Melanie asked after a few minutes of silence.

"In case you have forgotten, I'm an adult, and you're not my mother."

"It's just not safe," Melanie defended her worries.

"I'll be there while they're open, maybe a little later. And he said I could take work home with me, so I can work during the day. I don't really have any set hours, as long as I get shit done," Cameron explained.

"Is 'he' your boss? Do you like him? He's not one of those stereotypical slime ball club owners, is he? I think I have a can of mace you can carry in your purse," Melanie got up from the table to search through the miscellaneous drawer in the kitchen. She found a small can of mace attached to a keychain, and put it on the table next to Cameron's plate. Cameron kept her mouth shut; mace wouldn't keep her safe from Eric, not that she would need it.

"Jesus, Melanie. I've had a job before. I know how to get along just fine. Calm down!"

"Sorry, but you're still young. You may be a legal adult, but sometimes you don't act very mature. You're only 24," Melanie kindly pointed out. Cameron rolled her eyes.

Dinner continued on in virtual silence. Melanie didn't want to offend her sister anymore, and Cameron didn't want to be judge or criticized anymore.

Once out of the main house, Cameron opened the garage and looked for boxes full of her old stuff. The apartment above the garage didn't have much storage space, and a lot of Cameron's things ended up in boxes. Cameron regretted not labeling any of them as she was looking for a box that stored all of her old textbooks. Unlike most of her classmates, Cameron didn't sell back her books when she was finished with a class. She had been one of the spoiled kids whose parents paid for everything.

Once Cameron found the box of books, she pulled out all of her old notes and books about branding and web design. She had taken a couple of classes about web design, and was glad that she was finally going to be able to put what she learned to good use.

She spent the evening going through all of her old resources and making notes until she was expected to be at Fangtasia at 10:30.

Cameron didn't dress any differently because she was now working for Eric. Based on their track record, he wasn't exactly one for professionalism. Melanie wanted to buy Cameron pant suits and pumps to expand upon her professional wardrobe, but Cameron was adamant that she wouldn't need them. Eric would make some sassy remark, anyway.

She also didn't think she would need to conform to the image of Fangtasia. She wasn't about to go out and buy a leather jacket, or a skin tight dress like Pam. Eric and Pam were the faces of the club, and it was their responsibility to look the part- not Cameron's. Or that's how she rationalized it, anyway.

On her way to Fangtasia, Cameron was a little worried that Eric would abuse his new authority over her. He had always had power over her, but now she was officially an employee of his. It would have been illegal for Eric to abuse that, but Cameron had a feeling that he was good at getting away with things.

Fangtasia was dead because it was a week night, and Cameron was glad. It would be less hectic, and she would be able to park close to the door. One thing she hated about visiting Fangtasia was the parking lot. If it was busy, she would have to park so far away. The dark parking lot of a vampire bar wasn't exactly the safest place in the world to walk alone at night. Cameron would have to negotiate getting a reserved parking space.

Walking up to the door, Cameron realized that Fangtasia was actually closed. There were a few cars in the parking lot, but the lights were off. However, the door was unlocked. Cameron walked through the door and froze.

Ginger was behind the bar, nervously wiping down glasses, and three men dressed in all black, wearing hats and what looked like bullet proof vests were standing close to the door to Eric's office. They were holding guns. All three stood on alert when Cameron came into the room.

"What's going on?" Cameron asked Ginger, keeping a strict eye on the men.

Ginger shook her head quickly and continued cleaning glasses.

Cameron's vision started to blurry, and the dark tones of Fangtasia's interior swirled together, until finally settling and everything came back into focus. Cameron was standing in the corner of a very nicely decorated office. The colors were dark, but very elegant. There was a large, dark wooden desk that looked like a very expensive antique. The whole room screamed expensive.

In the room with Cameron were Eric and a man she had never seen before. This man was covered in blood. It took Cameron a second to get passed that and see that he was shorter than Eric, though most people were, had dark hair, and wore an expensive looking suit that had been ruined by the blood. Cameron assumed he was a vampire.

Cameron took in the state of the strange man, then shifted her gaze to Eric. In the transition, Cameron noticed three dead bodies and a pile of gore and blood. The site was revolting. Cameron shut her eyes as tightly as she could, and tried her hardest not to throw up. Her head was spinning, and she was only able to take in short, ragged breaths through her nose.

Cameron clamped a hand over her mouth to help keep down her dinner. On top of the intense nausea, she felt dizzy. She could feel herself swaying, until she finally hit the ground.

She cried out once at the impact, and opened her eyes in shock. Cameron was on her side, looking through blurry vision at table and chair legs and the dark floor of Fangtasia. Everything sounded like she had cotton in her years, but she could feel the vibrations of people rushing towards her. Another wave of nausea hit her, and Cameron shut her eyes again to combat the feeling of throwing up all over the floor.

Cameron could hear properly again as soon as someone grabbed her shoulder. She didn't feel like she could open her eyes to see who it was, or open her mouth to speak. Cameron had seen some nasty injuries before, but nothing compared to the mess of blood and tissue that she had seen in the vision.

"I don't know what happened! She came in, asked what was goin' on, got a real funny look on her face, and just fainted!" Ginger cried. She added in a few good wails, and Cameron cringed at the noise. She was hoping for the cotton feeling to come back, just to block out Ginger.

The hand on her shoulder pushed gently, rolling Cameron onto her back. Opening her eyes, Cameron saw that she was surrounded. She recognized Eric, Pam, the three men with guns, and the man from her vision. Thankfully, he wasn't covered in blood.

Eric had been the one to push Cameron onto her back, and he helped her up into a sitting position.

Ginger ran off to the bar, and came back with a glass of water. She held it out, but nobody moved to take it from her. She was being ignored, and the men with guns herded her away.

"Somebody help me up," Cameron rasped. Her throat and mouth had become extremely dry, and she could feel her throat starting to constrict. Eric stood, pulling her up with him. As soon as she was on her feet, Cameron pushed past the men and ran into the women's restroom. She threw up in the first stall.

Once she was done vomiting out her insides, Cameron took a few deep breaths, and started to clean herself up in the sink. Her throat burned from the acid.

Ginger came into the bathroom, still holding the glass of water and a clean rag. She kindly tried to help Cameron clean up, but was really useless.

"You alright, darlin'? You're as pale as a ghost. Or one o' them," Ginger said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder, towards the bathroom door.

"I'll be fine," Cameron answered. Looking in the mirror, her hair was stuck to her sweaty forehead, her eye makeup was all messed up, and she was, indeed, very pale. She washed her face with the clean rag that Ginger offered, and pulled her hair up into a bun at the top of her head. Ginger offered her a stick of gum, which Cameron gladly accepted, and took her back out into the bar to the rest of the group.

"So what's up?" Cameron asked awkwardly, walking towards the group. Ginger abandoned her to go back to the bar. Eric shot her a look, and she disappeared from the room in fear.

"Feeling better?" Eric asked her dryly. Cameron nodded. On the floor next to the man from her vision was Cameron's tote bag. Some of her notes and books that she had brought along were poking out. She went to pick it up, but the man beat her to it.

From the closer distance, she could tell he was a vampire.

"Perhaps you should sit down," he said to Cameron, with the thickest Southern accent she had ever heard. He held her bag out, and she took it, pulling it up on her shoulder.

"I'll be fine," Cameron reassured. She was nervous. Pam and Eric were watching her intently. The Southern vampire smiled kindly at her, but something seemed off about him. She didn't exactly want to trust him, but she couldn't place why. Most likely because he was a strange, new vampire. Besides Eric and Pam, Cameron had no experience. He seemed nice enough, but Cameron kept an eye on him anyway. Just in case.

"Should I go?" Cameron asked, turning to Eric for an answer. She felt like she was interrupting something.

"Go into my office," he answered, though it sounded like an order. His voice was very authoritative.

"Have we moved on so quickly?" the new vampire asked Eric. He remained silent and expressionless, but Cameron could tell he was in a bad mood.

Cameron looked from Eric to the vampire, then back again. They stared each other down, the shorter vampire smirking slightly. It seemed like there was some sort of power struggle between the two.

"What's in the bag?" the vampire asked, not taking his eyes off of Eric.

"What?" Cameron muttered. The vampire tore his gaze from Eric to address Cameron.

"It's very heavy. Books, perhaps?"

"Actually, yeah. I'm working on the website," Cameron answered, watching Eric out of the corner of her eye.

"I have recently hired Cameron and have put her in charge of marketing my business," Eric explained. The shorter vampire looked at him, surprise evident on his face. Cameron wondered why.

"Ah, trying to clean up the image in a post-Russell Edginton world?" the vampire asked. Eric nodded slightly. "Are you perhaps ill?" he turned his attention back to Cameron.

"Oh, I'm fine," Cameron answered. Despite trying her hardest not to, Cameron thought of the bloody mess in her vision again. The image wouldn't go away. In response to the image, she started to sweat and become faint again.

Seeing her swaying again, the vampire stepped forward and grabbed her upper arms to steady her. Before Cameron could even process what was happening, Eric was separating them, his fangs barred. Eric pulled Cameron towards him, and stepped in front of her, putting his body between her and the other vampire. He seemed to be amused by Eric's reaction.

"Pam," Eric said lowly. Pam came forward, grabbed Cameron's wrist and pulled her away from the group, towards Eric's office. All of the being pushed around was making Cameron feel dizzy again.

"Stay," Pam ordered, pushing Cameron down on the couch in Eric's office. She then vanished, slamming the door behind her, probably to rejoin Eric in case a fight broke out.

Cameron hadn't expected Eric to act so protective of her in front of another vampire. She wondered who the other guy was, to make Eric so on edge.

Still feeling sick, Cameron tried to clear her head. She couldn't focus on Eric's drama at the moment. She pushed her bag onto the floor and spread out on the couch. She covered her eyes with her right forearm and focused on her breathing. She tried to ignore how gross she felt.

Cameron heard the door open and close. She removed her arm and rolled her head to the side so she could see who came into the room, but was blinded by bright sunlight. She brought a hand up to her face to shield her eyes, and was splashed in the face with water. She was shoulder deep in murky, brown water.

The splashing continued. Still shielding her face, though from water instead of sunlight, Cameron turned to see Eric. It was a hard scene to digest. He was playing in the water and sunlight, like a child. The water only came up to mid-chest on him.

A low growling sound brought Cameron's attention to the shore. A large dog, maybe a wolf, stood at the edge of the water, growling and barking at Eric. A blonde woman wearing shorts and a cardigan came running up, and the wolf turned into a naked man.

Cameron flushed, and tried to concentrate on his face. He was muscular and dark, with angular features. He towered over the blonde woman. Cameron could barely make out a patch of some sort on the breast of her shirt, leading her to think that the woman was wearing a uniform.

Once again, everything sounded like Cameron had cotton stuffed in her ears. This was common in a lot of her visions.

The woman and Eric exchanged words, but Cameron didn't even try to figure out what they were saying. She had realized that the woman was the same person who was on the roof with Eric and the small vampire in Dallas. This was the woman that Eric knew.

Before she could make anymore connections, Cameron was thrown back into reality. Having lost her sense of direction, she rolled off the couch and landed pitifully on the floor. She felt sick all over again.

Eric pulled up from the floor and set her back down on the couch in a sitting position.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've been drinking," Eric joked. Cameron glared at him briefly, then held her head in her hands. A headache was starting to take hold.

* * *

><p>"I've Had This Feeling Before" by Everest<p> 


	18. Anyone's Ghost

This one is a bit short, I know.

* * *

><p>Before Cameron could even think of talking to Eric, she requested some sort of painkiller and water. Her head was still spinning, and she felt totally dehydrated. Eric had to send Pam out to buy Advil; it wasn't something vampires had any use for.<p>

It didn't take long for Pam to return with the medicine, and as Cameron was handed the pill bottle and a bottle of water from the bar, she realized that she had at one point been chewing gum. She couldn't remember spitting it out, and realized with disgust that she must have swallowed it.

Her mouth still felt gritty and gross, thanks to the vomiting, but she forced down two pills and drank as much of the water as she could in one try. She waited a few minutes for the effect to kick in. Eric leaned against his desk patiently, and Pam stood in the center of the room with her hands on her hips.

Cameron leaned back against the couch to better steady herself, and took a series of deep breaths. She blinked a few times. She noticed that every other time she blinked, something seemed different about Pam. Her outfit changed. She focused all of the energy that she could on the vision that she felt was trying to break through, until finally a steady image of Pam dressed all in black stabilized. Cameron didn't know much about the fashion history, but the clothing looked like what she imagined a Victorian mourner's outfit to be. She wore a large hat with a veil, and everything was black. Cameron could barely see through the veil, nor did she have any clue as to why Pam was dressed that way.

A sudden sharp pain in the center of her forehead shattered the image. Cameron brought her hands up to her head in an effort to ease the pain, but it wouldn't go away. She was starting to feel sick again.

She shakily stood up. When it looked like she was going to collapse, Eric was at her side. She pushed him away and ran as quickly as she could to the bathroom where she threw up only water and two pills. Her stomach had already been emptied.

When she was done vomiting, Cameron sat miserably on the bathroom floor, leaning against the wall. She was sweating again and wanted nothing more than a shower and to brush her teeth for ten minutes straight.

Cameron leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. She heard the door open and close, rolled her head slightly and cracked open an eye to see Eric, his hands in his pockets. He stared down at her unemotionally.

"I feel like I'm dying," Cameron murmured. Eric chuckled briefly, but didn't make any effort to comfort or help her.

"Is it food poisoning?" Eric asked her.

"No, just a bad reaction to visions. This has happened once before," Cameron answered. She straightened up against the wall. She noticed that something was different about the bathroom, looked around, and saw a series of urinals to her right. "Oh gross! I'm sitting on the floor of a men's bathroom!" she cried, and scrambled to get off the floor. She felt sick for a whole other reason.

Cameron walked around Eric to go to the women's bathroom to wash out her mouth and wash her face again. When she was done, she went back into his office.

"Better now?" Eric asked from behind his desk. Cameron nodded and sat down on the couch. Her head felt like it was clearing up, and she was really starting to feel a lot better. The effects of the series of visions were almost completely out of her system.

"I know I embarrassed myself, but that wasn't someone important, was it?"

Eric looked like he wanted to laugh, but kept it to himself. He didn't answer her, but Pam chuckled.

"Not exactly, just the vampire king of Louisiana," Pam answered, highly amused.

"You're shitting me," Cameron blanched. "He's so… so… short. I mean, everyone is compared to you," she gestured towards Eric, "but really. That guy?" Eric nodded.

"What did you see in your visions?" Eric asked, changing the subject.

"Hold on. Why was the king visiting you? I'll go ahead and hold all questions about this whole vampire royalty and save them for later. But are you in trouble?" Cameron asked, ignoring Eric's desire to change the subject.

"No, not anymore," Eric answered simply.

"What does that mean? What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything this time. He came to inform me that I was no longer a suspect. Now what of your visions?"

"A suspect of what?" Cameron asked, continuing to ignore Eric.

"A missing person case," Pam answered.

"Pamela," Eric threatened. Pam rolled her eyes.

"He thought you abducted someone? Oh my god, that lady?" Cameron attempted to make connections in her head, but really didn't have much information to go on. She had a feeling that she was on the right track, though.

"Yes. He too was a suspect, but the search has been called off and we are both no longer suspects," Eric explained simply, wishing to move on to another topic immediately.

"Well, I saw her," Cameron started. Eric sat forward in his desk chair, waiting for her to continue.

"First I saw you and that guy in some kind of office. He was covered in blood and there was some disgusting pile of guts on the ground," Cameron explained, "That's why I threw up the first time, actually."

"Do you remember any details?" Eric pushed.

"Yeah. There were three dead bodies, and now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that guy was holding a stake. What's his name, anyway?" Cameron asked after going into more detail.

"Continue," Eric ignored her question. The less she knew about him, the better. She rolled her eyes, but played along anyway.

"At first I thought the second vision was some crazy hallucination, but after hanging around you guys, who knows anymore. You were swimming in some nasty water, during the daytime, and this dog or wolf was growling at you. It turned into a naked guy, and this woman came up and started yelling at you. I couldn't tell what she was saying."

"How did you know who she was?" Eric asked. Out of all the crazy things Cameron had just told him, his biggest concern was the blonde woman. Ashamedly, a little spark of jealousy flared deep within Cameron.

"I've seen her before in my visions," Cameron answered simply. Eric abandoned his seat and moved to stand in front of her. His interest had been piqued.

"Explain," he demanded.

"Remember when I was in Dallas and I had that vision and called you?" she asked. He nodded. "She was in it."

"What did you see?"

"Both of you, and someone else. She talked to this guy before he met the sun," she said simply. She figured it wouldn't take much to remind him of that morning. It seemed like it had been traumatic enough. Eric's eyes were vacant.

Cameron looked from Eric to Pam, and back again. She didn't know what to do, so she continued talking.

"The third vision was Pam dressed like a Victorian bee keeper. It was just a flash." Pam pulled a disgusted face at the very thought.

Eric moved back towards his desk, staying quiet. Cameron wanted to know what he was thinking ,if she should say something, or do something. Both she and Pam watched him, waiting for something to happen. Neither knew what to do.

"You may go home now. I'll pay you for tonight," Eric finally spoke.

"I didn't get anything done," she protested. She glanced briefly at her forgotten tote bag carrying her books and plans for the Fangtasia website. She had actually been excited to start work on that.

"You've been useful, regardless. You may go," Eric repeated, sitting down in his desk chair again. Cameron stared at him for a good minute. He kept his gaze focused on papers covering his desk, though Cameron was willing to bet that he was somewhere else.

She stood and pulled her bag over her shoulder. She walked past Pam, towards the door, though stopped short.

"I'll be OK, right?" Cameron asked, turning back around to face Eric and Pam. They both looked up at her.

"Mr. Compton does not know of your visions, if that's what you're talking about," Eric answered her. Cameron nodded, satisfied that nobody else had learned her secret.

"He does know that you're important, though," Pam added.

"What do you mean?" Cameron asked, causing Pam to smirk. Eric glared at Pam, and neither one said anything more.

Knowing she wouldn't find anything else out, Cameron left Fangtasia.

After taking a long shower, drinking a ton of water, and brushing her teeth several times, Cameron crawled into bed. She was exhausted, but could not sleep. She had too much on her mind.

It was an odd sort of irony, but Cameron was uncertain about the future. She could feel that this woman that Eric knew would be important, that something else was going on. As much as she hated to admit it, she didn't want this woman to be recovered. She had noticed the way Eric looked when she was talked about.

Cameron knew that this other woman was important to Eric, though the reasons were unclear. She knew that she was different, that she could hear people's thoughts. Surely that was far more useful to Eric than whatever Cameron could offer.

She knew that it was irrational and twisted, but Cameron realized that she liked being used and exploited by Eric. She had been lost, and then Eric came into her life and gave it meaning. He had been able to put her visions to good use. The visions had gone from mental anomaly that should never be talked about to something useful, and he encouraged them.

The situation was sick because he was obviously exploiting her. She knew that perfectly well. Yet she didn't want it to end. She didn't want the pretty blonde woman, who so obviously captivated Eric, to ruin everything for her.

Before falling asleep, Cameron wondered if she wasn't giving Eric enough credit. Maybe his interest in her was more than exploitation. He certainly didn't seem to hate her; if he didn't like her, she probably wouldn't be alive, or at least not his employee.

Cameron just couldn't help but wonder how things were going to change. The change was inevitable- she could feel it. The series of visions triggered by the new vampire was a clear indication of that much.

* * *

><p>"Anyone's Ghost" by the National<p> 


	19. Long Way Down

Sorry this took a while. But it's extra long!

So Alexander Skarsgard was seen at The Kills concert on February 9. It's fate. But none of their songs really fit with this chapter, so I'll save another song from them for later.

* * *

><p>For the rest of the week following Cameron's embarrassing episode at Fangtasia, she called in to work sick and worked from home. She needed time apart from Eric, and in a way, she was still feeling bad. She was suffering from constant headaches, which were brought on by little random scraps of visions.<p>

Cameron saw seemingly random little images. She would be writing something down, look up and see the fading image of a police officer, or a large house. She saw things like a gun, a cluster of red, white, and blue balloons, a wolf, a crumpled up sweatshirt abandoned on the floor, a bed, and most disturbing of all, Eric's face.

It was infuriating trying to piece everything together. It was impossible. The only things Cameron recognized were Eric and the wolf. It was the same one from the second vision she had the other night. Or she was pretty sure it was the same one. She just couldn't be sure.

Cameron needed to focus on something besides whatever crazy mess Eric was creating. There was nothing she could do about it, so she ignored it.

Cameron sat at the kitchen table in the main house with her laptop and a mess of papers and open books surrounding her. Melanie was running around the house, trying to prepare for a trip to Dallas.

Sometime during the night, a nurse from their father's nursing home had called Melanie, telling her that their father had been taken to the hospital. Desperate to avoid anymore drama, Cameron volunteered to stay behind with Jackson while Melanie took care of the mess in Dallas.

"Don't forget that Jackson can't have _any_ sugar after 6!" Melanie reminded her sister as she rushed through the kitchen carrying a wad of clothes to the laundry room. "And he can only watch G rated movies!"

"Seriously, Mel, I can do the laundry. You said you were going to leave at 9, it's almost 11. I know what to do," Cameron said, trying to appease her sister, who had starting going through the fridge and checking expiration dates of all the perishables.

"Alright, alright. Pick Jackson up at 3! Don't be late! And do fun things with him; distract him. I don't want him to worry about dad," Melanie conceded, closing the refrigerator door and leaning against it.

"OK, so pick him up at 4. Gotcha. Has he ever seen 'Marley and Me'? He likes dogs, right?"

"Oh, you're so funny," Melanie rolled her eyes, then left to finish packing. Even with Cameron's help, she didn't get on the road until noon.

Cameron worked quietly and efficiently until it was time to pick up Jackson from school. He told her all about his day at school, including his friends and enemies, about his book report, and how his teacher smelled like Bo. He chattered all the way home.

Once they were home, Cameron chased him around the backyard and played soccer with him to drain his energy. Once he was worn out, she gave him a snack and sat him down in front of the TV. He didn't bother her again until 7 that night when he got hungry.

She had been prepared for the worst, but Jackson was actually acting fairly well behaved. He went to bed with little fuss. Of course it would have been a bad idea for Cameron to go back to her apartment, so she spent the night in Melanie's room. Bo spent half the night poking around the new environment, occasionally waking Cameron up. She was just glad that it wasn't an unwelcome vampire. The one good thing about sleeping in the main house was that she didn't have to worry about any late night visitors.

Cameron and Jackson both slept in the next morning, though Jackson was up hours before Cameron. He messily made himself a bowl of cereal and watched television until she woke up and stumbled downstairs.

They spent the day hanging out around the house. She made sandwiches for lunch, and they spend a good deal of time outside. They spent the afternoon playing video games, Jackson teaching her what buttons to press for different actions, and goofing off. It was relaxing to not have Melanie around, who was a stickler for safe and educational activities.

Despite Melanie's instructions, Cameron and Jackson watched two PG movies while eating delivered pizza for dinner. Pizza was supposed to be a special treat, but Cameron couldn't be bothered to cook anything.

For the first time in ages, Cameron was enjoying her time with Jackson. He was usually a fairly spoiled child, which was Melanie's doing. She felt bad for him not having a father in his life, and over compensated by mothering him senseless.

Caught up in actually having a decent time with her nephew, Cameron allowed him to stay up way past his bedtime. After getting him ready and settled in his bed, she allowed him to read a book to her. His reading skills were abysmal, but she allowed him the practice. She tried not to cringe every time he got a word wrong, and did her best to kindly correct and encourage him, but she just didn't have the patience or nurturing desire.

Once the book was finished, Cameron happily put it away and left Jackson alone. She shut the door firmly behind her and went downstairs to clean up the day's mess. Once the house was tidy again, Cameron settled down into the sofa and watched TV with Bo curled up against her.

Around 1, Cameron turned off the TV and went upstairs to get ready for bed. She changed clothes, pulled her hair up into a bun at the top of her head, washed her face, and put on copious amounts of lotion. The cold weather was starting to dry out her skin. As she moved about Melanie's room, Cameron thought about how vampires didn't have to do that sort of thing.

As she pulled back the covers to get into the bed, Cameron realized that her phone was not on the nightstand. She looked around the room until she realized that she must have left it downstairs. She groaned in annoyance, but went to get it. She was reluctant to be too far from her phone, given the circumstances.

On the way down the stairs, Cameron slipped on the smooth wood steps, but caught herself on the railing. When she put on lotion, she must not have rubbed it in enough.

Once downstairs, Cameron searched the living room and kitchen for her phone. She picked up the cordless phone from the kitchen countertop and dialed her number, waiting for it to ring. She walked around the downstairs, phone in hand, listening intently for the ringing or buzzing of her phone. She couldn't remember if it had been on silent or not.

Cameron had to dial her number twice more, before she could make out the faint buzzing in the living room. She stuck her had between each of the cushions until she finally found it.

As an afterthought, Cameron grabbed her laptop and a pile of her notes from the coffee table. She wasn't exactly tired, and figured that she could get some more work done.

Satisfied that she had everything she needed, Cameron starting climbing the stairs, for what she hoped would be the last time for the night.

Nearing the top, Cameron realized she had left the kitchen light on. Turning around to go back down the stairs, Cameron's vision started to blur. Her view of the staircase morphed into another set of stairs. At the bottom stood Eric, dressed oddly and with muddy feet, and the blonde woman who seemed to be haunting Cameron's visions. They were both looking up at the top of the stairs, where Cameron was.

The vision was cut short as Cameron's back connected with the edge of a step, then her forehead, then her right knee. Her body slammed into the hard wood floor of the foyer, her laptop clattered down the stairs after her, and finally shattered against the floor to her left. Papers floated down around her as the pain took hold. Everything hurt, and moving a fraction of an inch was pure agony.

Turning her head slightly, Cameron saw her phone just a few feet away. She could have reached it if she really stretched, but the screen was completely shattered and she doubted it would work. Besides, just the thought of moving any more was too much to handle.

Briefly, Cameron thought she had started to cry. Her face was dripping wet. Turning her eyes to the ground, she realized that there were drops of blood. Then some of it started to trickle into her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut to keep the blood out.

When she opened her eyes again, Jackson stood over her, clutching Bo tightly to his chest, and sobbing hysterically.

"Shut up," Cameron groaned. She could barely feel her body anymore, and everything was a bit hazy.

Jackson dropped to his knees right by Cameron's head, still clutching a distraught Bo.

"You're alive!" he shrieked. Cameron winced.

"Get the phone," Cameron murmured. Though, Jackson didn't seem to hear her, because he stayed put and kept crying.

"Jackson!" Cameron raised her voice as much as she could to get his attention. She quieted, wiped his face on Bo's back, and looked down at her expectantly. "Get the phone, she repeated. Jackson nodded and clumsily stood up. He grabbed at Cameron's broken phone on the floor and handed it to her.

She couldn't reach up and take it from him, so he sat it down next to her hand. Cameron tried to exercise patience with the kid, but the situation was making it difficult.

"Go get the phone from the kitchen," Cameron ordered. Jackson dropped Bo and ran off into the kitchen to do as his aunt said. Cameron heard the scraping of chair legs against the wooden floor as Jackson pushed it against the counter to get the phone.

There were a few moments of silence, and then Cameron heard Jackson scream.

Panicked, Cameron pulled her hands under her chest and pushed herself up into as close of a sitting position as she could manage. She tried desperately to get up and find out what was wrong with Jackson.

Before she moved anymore, Jackson came running towards her, crying.

"What?" Cameron cried as Jackson barreled towards her. He threw himself to his knees in front of her, and clung to her. His grip around her middle sent a shooting pain up her back. Unable to hold herself up anymore, she fell back to the ground. Jackson released her in time and let her fall.

"There's someone outside," he whispered. Terror was written all over his face.

"Who?" Cameron moaned out. The movement did not help her at all. Jackson continued to cry as he shook his head.

"He was scary."

"Where's the phone?" Cameron asked. If there really was someone outside, then their only hope was to be able to call the police. She was in no position to defend anyone.

"I dropped it," Jackson answered between whimpers.

Cameron sighed, closed her eyes, and rested her head against the floor. She could barely even think anymore.

Jackson was interrupted from his crying, and Cameron from her thoughts by the doorbell. Jackson scooted himself closer to Cameron, as if she could protect him in her condition.

"Who is it?" Cameron asked. She was facing away from the door, and the tall windows on either side of it. Jackson stared down at her, shaking his head furiously. He was too afraid to even look.

"Just look, goddamnit. Be brave," Cameron urged. Jackson sniffed and slowly looked up. He immediately shot his gaze back down to his aunt.

"It's him!" he whispered dramatically.

Cameron heard a soft tapping at the glass.

"Let me in," the person said. Cameron recognized Eric's voice.

"Go let him in," Cameron told Jackson. He shook his head furiously, tears streaming down his face.

"What if he's a _vampire_?"

"Do it!" Cameron yelled, losing her patience. Everything hurt, and she couldn't wait any longer.

Jackson wiped his face on his pajama sleeves and clambered to his feet. He reluctantly moved to the door and slowly unlocked it. He inched the door open, and peered out through the crack at Eric.

Remembering everything he had heard about vampires, Jackson opened the door all the way and openly stared at Eric. He knew that he couldn't come in if he wasn't invited.

"You need to invite me in," Eric told him. Jackson kept his mouth shut.

"Fuck, just do it!" Cameron cried. She was regretting sitting up earlier. Her back and knee were unbearable.

Jackson whimpered at her outburst.

"If you invite me in, tiny human, I can help her," Eric said. Jackson whipped his face again and continued to stare at Eric, unsure of what to do.

"It's ok!" Cameron shouted, getting desperate.

"Come in," Jackson finally muttered. In an instant, the door slammed shut and Eric was kneeling by Cameron's side.

"Jackson, go upstairs," Cameron instructed as Eric gently lifted her head from the ground. She tried not to wince in pain, but couldn't help it.

Jackson stood his ground, not wanting to leave his aunt alone with the strange vampire.

"Go!" Cameron yelled. She felt bad for having to raise her voice so much, but it seemed to be the only way to get him to react. Jackson scurried up the staircase as Eric pulled Cameron up from the ground. He held her tightly, her back against his chest, her head resting against his shoulder. She couldn't help but let out a few tears.

From her angle, Cameron could see her mangled mess of a body. Her arms and hands were bruised, as were her legs. Her left knee was a horrible shade of purple, and swollen beyond recognition. Her hands, clothes, and the floor were splattered with dried blood.

Eric brought his wrist to his face, ripped it open with his fangs, and held it up to Cameron's mouth.

She was reluctant to accept the offering, but the pain drove her to it. She was more hesitant about the idea of drinking someone's blood, and didn't even think of what she would have to deal with later.

After getting used to the taste, Cameron gulped down as much of Eric's blood as she could. She swallowed too quickly to really taste it, but if it had been horrible, she wouldn't have swallowed so much so easily.

The pain started to subside, and Eric gently pulled his wrist away. The wound instantly stitched itself together, and all that was left was a smear of drying blood.

Cameron watched as the swelling in her knee went down. The horrible color drained from all of her bruises, and the pain melted away.

Before she knew it, Cameron was sitting up without assistance. She brought a hand up to her forehead, but could only feel dried, flaking blood. If she was being honest, she was actually feeling better than she had in a long time.

"What would you do without me," Eric chuckled.

"I just fell down the goddamn stairs," Cameron muttered, ignoring Eric's smug look. He watched her stand up and started moving around the foyer, picking up all the scattered papers.

It was a difficult feeling to explain, but everything seemed just ever so slightly different. The texture of the papers, the colors of the painting hanging on the wall, the texture of the wall itself, everything was thrown into a sharp focus. She could see the wood grain of the floors so clearly. She could smell the few drops of dried blood on the floor.

Looking down at her hand, Cameron felt like she could see every pore and hair follicle. Besides her basic senses, Cameron felt _good_. She felt strong, healthy, energetic, and a few other things that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Eric watched Cameron silently as she went through these realizations. He had tried several times to give his blood to Cameron, and he was satisfied that it had finally happened. He was happy that he didn't have to trick her, or coerce her in some way. He didn't exactly like seeing her so hurt, but she was fine now.

Having his blood inside of her meant to that he would have just that much more control over her. They were bound even closer together. Eric was very satisfied, indeed. Almost downright smug.

"I'm not gonna go insane, am I?" Cameron asked, turning to face Eric. She watched television, she knew what happened to V addicts. There had been all sorts of specials on it since the properties of V were discovered. Cameron had watched her fair share of intervention-based shows for, or talk show episodes featuring guests who were recovering V addicts.

"It's much different drinking from the source, when it's fresh," he told her. She nodded, not sure how she felt about the situation. A minute ago, she was on the floor, feeling like she was about to die, or at least wishing for death because she was in so much pain. With some of Eric's blood, she's better than she has ever been in her entire life. She was still reeling from the quick transition.

"I bet you're happy now," said Cameron. They stared at each other for a long moment.

"I wasn't happy to see you hurt," Eric finally answered.

"But you wanted me to have your blood," Cameron ignored his concern, whether real or fake.

"Yes."

"You're officially and legally my boss now. I know it doesn't seem like it, based on past events, but I do want to keep things profession," Cameron told him.

"No you don't," Eric smiled. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"How would you know?" Cameron rolled her eyes, scoffing.

"We're bonded now."

"Oh, because we weren't before," Cameron said sarcastically, not fully understanding what Eric meant.

"We are now connected until one of us dies. I can sense everything you feel. I'll know if you're ever in trouble or need help. Next time you fall down the stairs, I'll know as soon as it happens," Eric explained.

"How did you know to come?" Cameron asked after a beat of silence.

"You haven't been coming into Fangtasia this week, so I came to check up on you. Good thing I did."

"Um, yeah. Thanks, I guess," Cameron muttered.

A floorboard creaked somewhere on the second floor, and both Cameron and Eric looked up to the top of the stairs as Jackson peeked around a corner. He saw that they were both watching him, and retreated immediately.

"Hey!" Cameron yelled. Jackson froze and slowly went back to the corner. He emerged slowly and ashamedly. "Come here."

"You're all better," Jackson said as he moved down the stairs slowly.

"Yeah, I am. I'm sorry I yelled at you, kid." Cameron kneeled down in front of him. "Everything is fine now, and it's very important that we don't tell mommy what happened. Because everything is OK now, and she doesn't need to know. Got it?"

"Mommy says you shouldn't invite vampires in the house," Jackson said, ignoring Cameron and looking over her shoulder at Eric.

"Sometimes mommy is wrong. Some vampires are good. Like this guy," Cameron said, getting Jackson's attention back.

"Little human," Eric said, addressing Jackson. "You will go back to bed, because you are very tired. When you wake up in the morning, you will not remember this. You have never seen me, and your aunt was never hurt. Do you understand?"

Jackson yawned and rubbed his eyes in response. Cameron looked from her nephew to Eric, then back again. She watched, astonished, as Jackson sleepily climbed the stairs and went back into his room.

"You just glamoured a kid!" Cameron crossed the foyer and punched Eric's abdomen. It didn't affect him, and Cameron pulled back her fist for another hit. Eric caught it easily with one hand, unfurled her fist, and held onto her hand. He took her other hand, which she was preparing for another attack.

"Now your sister will never know," Eric said, unaffected by Cameron's concern.

"He's 8!"

"A 'thank you' would be nice."

"Fuck you!"

"Is that a promise?" Eric let go of Cameron's hands and grabbed her hips.

It was probably his blood in her, but Cameron was very tempted to play along. He was hard to resist, even without the influence of vampire blood. A dirty grin on Eric's face told her that he hadn't lied about the connection.

He easily swept her off the ground and took off at vampire speed. The foyer was replaced with Cameron's own bedroom. Eric was at least decent enough to put some distance between them and the child.

Eric set her down on the bed, pulled off his shirt, and was on top of her in a second, kissing her neck.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Cameron protested, trying to pull his face away from her neck. He pulled away and stared down at her hungrily and impatiently.

"What? You can't lie to me and say you don't want this," Eric said, and was back at her neck instantly.

Cameron tried to suppress her feelings. Eric was making it a difficult job, though. It seemed like everything was intensified even more by his blood. It was almost impossible to say no to him, but she had to. She couldn't just let him have her whenever he wanted, even if she wanted him, too.

Whatever half-assed protest she was about to come up with was silenced when Eric started kissing her. Any of her concerns and doubts were washed away with an intense desire for Eric.

It didn't take long for Cameron to forget everything. All that mattered in that moment was Eric.

* * *

><p>"Aint No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down" by Crooked Still (apparently this was already in the first episode of True Blood, so bonus song!)<p>

"Long Way Down" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club


	20. What's A Girl To Do?

Here's a nice long chapter to hopefully make up for my long absence. This took a lot longer to finish than I thought it would! Or, more accurately, I got a lot busier than I anticipated. But on a brighter note, this is the twentieth chapter! Damn, I can't believe I've lasted this long! And there's still so much more planned for this story! My one true goal is to finish this before season five starts.

Thanks to everyone for the reviews. They mean a lot to me. A lot of hard work goes into these chapters, and reviews kind of make it all worth it.

* * *

><p>Soaked in sweat, Cameron woke up with a start. She looked around the room with wide eyes, worried that she was still in the dream. She fell back onto her bed, realizing that she was just having another odd dream.<p>

Ever since having Eric's blood, discerning dreams from visions was even more difficult. Nearly every dream, or vision, primarily consisted of sex with Eric. Not that Cameron didn't particularly enjoy them, but the dreams were getting old. She didn't initially realize what Eric's blood would do to her, apart from healing her. She was just thankful that he had the decency to stay away. Cameron didn't dare go into work, either. She knew that nothing productive would happen if they were in the same room together.

However, mixed in with the erotic dreams were odd little snippets. Individually they made no sense, but when Cameron put them together, she started to notice a pattern, and decided that they were definitely visions, or pieces of them.

Each miniature vision took place on the same old antebellum house Cameron had seen several times before; the house that belonged to the unnamed woman that was connected to Eric. Sometimes she would see Eric, sometimes she would see the woman. Sometimes all she would see were empty rooms.

Every once in a while, Cameron would see something she couldn't understand, though. She saw puddles of blood, muddy footprints, some sort of fur blanket, a metal ladder, and a discarded pair of naughty red heels.

Cameron pushed aside the meaningless visions and cleared her mind as best she could. A decent night's sleep was becoming scarce.

After lying in bed for nearly an hour, trying to force herself to sleep, Cameron rolled over towards the nightstand and switched on her lamp. She went to grab her phone from the tabletop out of habit, forgetting that her phone was a shattered mess.

She had intended to call Eric. It felt stupid, but she wanted him there. She liked having him around. Even if she did have her phone, she would have had to call Fangtasia, instead of Eric directly.

Considering all that she had been through with him, Cameron found it a bit odd that she didn't have Eric's own phone number. She knew he had a cell phone; she had seen him use it. But he never offered it, and she never asked.

It was clear to Cameron that she wasn't going to get any more sleep for the night, so she rolled out of bed and stretched. She felt like getting some work done, but had no means of doing so. Her computer was also destroyed, and she had no idea when she would be able to afford a replacement. She could probably borrow Melanie's until then.

Taking care of Jackson didn't leave her much time to take care of it during the day, but Melanie had finally come back home earlier that day.

Melanie had been in Dallas for a week tending to their father. His health had taken a turn for the worse after a sudden stroke. After it was decided that he wasn't in immediate danger of dying, he was allowed to go back the nursing home, but was moved to the special care unit and was under constant vigilance by nurses.

The summer before Cameron's first semester of college, her father suffered a minor stroke. It didn't cause too much damage; the effects were barely noticeable to most people. The next summer, he suffered an even larger stroke. Both Melanie and Cameron were in school, and nobody else was around to take care of him, forcing a move into a nursing facility. He was 66 at the time. His mental capabilities were on the decline ever since.

It was a painful thing to watch, so Melanie hardly ever left Louisiana to visit him, and Cameron would stay with friends or on campus during breaks and holidays. When she moved back to Dallas after graduation, she barely visited him. They had never been close, so Cameron felt little remorse. Whatever guilty feelings she did have, she quickly squashed and ignored.

Cameron flopped back into her pillows and pulled her comforter over her head. She felt Bo jump onto the bed and settle against her side. The company was comforting, but it wasn't what Cameron had in mind. She would have much preferred Eric.

She thought Eric said that they would be bonded after she had his blood. He told her that he would be able to feel her. So where was he?

If she had been perfectly honest with herself before the stair accident, she would acknowledge that a small part of her always wanted Eric around. With his blood in her system, she wanted him around even more. It was almost painful how badly she wanted him there.

It wasn't even an entirely sexual want. Of course she wouldn't mind hooking up with him, but even just his presence would be enough for her. She wanted to have him near her. His power over her was intimidating and sometimes frightening, but his dominance was starting to become a comforting thing. He seemed invincible, and Cameron bet that not much would be able to get past him. If he did somehow lack in strength, he easily made up for it in intelligence. He was smart. There was no getting around that.

Cameron would never tell him that, though. It would go to his head. She wanted him around, she wanted him in her bed. Hell, it didn't even have to be in a bed. But she didn't want to fuel his already large ego.

The more she thought about Eric, the more tired she became. It crossed her mind briefly that she was starting to obsess, but it wasn't long before she was falling asleep.

Cameron woke up a few hours later, feeling a weight pushing down on her back. Sometime in her sleep, she had rolled over onto her back. IT didn't take long to realize that Bo had moved to her back. He started kneading between her shoulder blades. The cat massage would have been cute, or even felt good, if it weren't for his claws. Cameron sat up, forcing Bo off of her back.

As she stretched and yawned, Cameron glanced forlornly at the window. It was daytime, and she had gone yet another night without Eric. She was actually starting to worry and wonder if everything was alright.

Cameron ran a hand through her hair and swept it all into an incredibly messy bun at the top of her head as she moved into the living room. She would regret it later, when she went to brush it, but it felt good to get it off of her neck and out of her face.

Bo was waiting patiently on the countertop next to the container of cat food, waiting for Cameron to feed him. She stroked his fur once, and then poured some dry food into a neat little pile on the floor. Every time she used a bowl for his food, Bo would move it all around the floor of the kitchen, making a ton of noise, and knocking it into the walls, and it was never in the same place. It was easier to skip the bowl.

As Bo started eating, Cameron walked out of the kitchenette to go to the bathroom and take a shower. On her way, she stopped short. There was a pile of boxes on her coffee table that she did not remember being there the night before.

Cameron slowly walked towards the table and sat down on the couch, scrutinizing the pile. On top was a folded sheet of white cardstock. She grabbed it and flipped it open.

"_For Cameron_," she read out loud. The paper was smooth, heavy, and high quality. The short note was handwritten in neat cursive.

On top of the pile was a white, sealed envelope. Cameron opened it delicately and pulled out a paycheck made out to her. The check was for $5,000, which Cameron thought was ridiculous. They had never agreed on a salary, and there was no way that Cameron had done nearly enough work to deserve that amount. In the top left corner were the initials A.I.K. and a PO box address. The memo line was blank. Something about the initials seemed familiar, but Cameron was too distracted to pursue the thought.

The two boxes that were beneath the paycheck were even more worrying. One was small, the other box was relatively flat, but quite wide. Each box bore the same company logo. The small box had a picture of the newest version of Cameron's destroyed smart phone. The large box had a picture of a very sleek and expensive looking laptop.

Cameron stared at the two boxes for what must have been forever, before she hesitantly reached out for the small box. She held it in her hands for another minute, and then gingerly started to open it.

She noticed that the seals were broken already, but continued opening the package. She pulled out the brand new phone and stared down at it's shiny, reflective screen. The protective film that was put on all new electronics was gone. She pressed the power button, and the screen came to life. Cameron was surprised to see that the phone had the exact same wallpaper as her old one- a picture of Bo. She went through the photos, expecting to find only the generic stock photos that came with every new phone, but found all of her personal pictures that she had taken on her old phone. All of her bookmarks had been saved in the internet browser app, her e-mail was connected, and it had all the same apps. She went through her contacts, and they were all there.

Cameron safely assumed that everything came from Eric. She hadn't expected him to replace what she had broken, and she certainly hadn't expected him to transfer all of her information over to the new phone.

Even more shocking, Cameron found Eric's name among the contacts list. Further down the list was Pam's name and number. When she pressed on Pam's name, her contact page came up, along with a little memo that Eric must have put in. It read "for emergencies only."

Cameron couldn't help the stupid grin that spread across her face. The fact that Eric had trusted her with his and Pam's phone numbers was touching. More so than the fancy gifts. He might not have meant it this way, but Cameron took it as a sign that he trusted her, that he cared about her and wanted her to be able to contact him. Cameron was starting to get it in her head that maybe he at least partially reciprocated what she was starting to feel for him.

Cameron went through the phone for a few more minutes, marveling at all the information that had been saved from her old phone and at the improvements made between versions of the phone.

Excitedly, Cameron put the phone aside and moved on to the last box. She didn't even want to think about how much the laptop cost. She had seen it in stores, and sometimes lusted for it online, but never would have been able to afford it and justify the cost. It was a powerful, professional computer.

When she opened up the box, it was the same scenario as the phone. The seals were broken, and the protective film was missing. She booted it up, and after a quick inspection, Cameron found that all of her files were there. She wanted to cry, she was so happy. But she kept it bottled up. Eric wouldn't want her to cry. He would think it was stupid, even though he wasn't there to witness the display of emotion.

For the rest of the morning, Cameron anticipated seeing Eric later that night. She planned to go to Fangtasia as soon as it was dark. There wasn't a particular reason for the plan. She could easily work at home. But she wanted to see him. She wanted to thank him. He had thought of her, given her a thoughtful gift.

Throughout the day, though, Cameron became aware of the creeping feeling of doubt in the back of her mind. What Cameron originally viewed as a lovely and thoughtful gift from someone who was expressing a sentiment towards her slowly transformed into a sick, dubious feeling that Eric's intentions were not pure.

Cameron often found herself forgetting who and what Eric was. He was a vampire, but even more importantly he was manipulative. He was fundamentally selfish. To him, the end justifies the means. He had no moral objection to killing, so it seemed reasonable that he wouldn't have any qualms over leading Cameron astray.

By late afternoon, Cameron had completely switched gears. That morning she was happy and giddy. She felt like she did her junior year of high school when Ryan Taylor asked her to prom, mixed with a Christmas morning excitement. Receiving those gifts from Eric, she felt cared for and important.

As soon as she remembered who she was dealing with, Cameron felt used and stupid for buying into the trick. She fell for him, and realized her mistake. Cameron knew that Eric knew that a happy employee is a productive employee.

Cameron knew what she was getting into, though. She even expected this sort of behavior from Eric. She knew what she was to him, and she had, for the most part, accepted her role. But she was determined to hold on to at least some of her dignity. She wouldn't let him lead her on. Cameron would stand by Eric, but on her terms. No more manipulation, no more games.

The laptop and phone sat on the coffee table, where Cameron found them, untouched for the day. By evening she had put them back in their box. She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about them anymore. Cameron wanted to keep the check, though. It more than enough compensated her for her work, and she felt like Eric probably threw in extra to compensate for the emotional trauma. Everyone has their price, and Cameron was being treated like an investment.

Not willing to put anymore thought towards the subject of Eric, and wanting desperately to forget about the extravagant gifts sitting on her coffee table and their implications, Cameron went into her bedroom with the intent of cleaning out her closet. It was a task that she had yet to actually accomplish since living in the apartment above her sister's garage, but always meant to. It seemed like a good enough distraction.

Cameron sat on the floor of her room sorting through boxes of half filled notebooks, well-meaning but god-awful presents, and a year's worth of random, accumulated crap. She sorted things into piles, though after a while, the piles lost their meaning. Bo interrupted every so often by rolling around in a pile of scarves Cameron never wore, or clawing at a lone UGG boot, missing its mate. Cameron shooed the cat away from everything that caught his attention, except for the boot. She let him keep that. It was an unattractive beige color, spotted with odd stains, and the sheepskin lining reeked of sweat. The boots had been a Christmas present sometime during either middle school or high school. Cameron really couldn't remember how old they were. All she knew was that her sister had begged and pleaded for a pair of the boots in pink for Christmas, and their parents assumed Cameron would want a pair, too.

Cameron was going leafing through an old spiral-bound notebook, deciding if it was worth keeping or if it should be thrown away, when she was startled by a loud and fervent banging at her front door. She threw down the notebook and stumbled through the apartment, her right leg having fallen asleep while clearing out the closet.

Of course, Cameron wondered who was at her door. Eric wouldn't knock. He probably secretly had a key, or possessed some sort of vampire power that allowed him to pick locks really well.

As soon as she opened the door, Cameron was barraged by Melanie's chatter.

"Took you long enough! It's so creepy out here! This porch light is so not bright enough. That can't be safe. There could be someone creeping on you out here and you wouldn't even know it. And why was your door locked?" Melanie pushed into Cameron's apartment, shutting the door firmly behind her.

"You just said it was creepy out there! Why wouldn't I lock my door at night?" Cameron argued. She didn't comment on the fact that there probably was somebody creeping on her outside, and that he was a vampire.

"Whatever. Look, dad's nurses called again. It's really getting bad," Melanie started, directing Cameron towards the couch, her voice taking on a motherly tone. Cameron didn't fight where she assumed the conversation was going, and allowed her sister to mother her.

"What?" Cameron prodded.

"She said that we should probably visit him soon. You know, say our goodbyes, just in case something happens. And something probably will happen soon. They said he's getting worse every day," Melanie explained, relaying her conversation with their father's caretakers.

"I'll stay here with Jackson," Cameron offered. She was of course saddened by the very real possibility of her father dying, but she did not want to and could not face it. They had never been close, and for the past five years, Cameron did all she could to distance herself from him.

"No, I really think we all need to go. You haven't seen him in so long. He misses you. He talked about you when I was there, you know," Melanie said, trying to change her sister's mind.

"He did not," Cameron rolled her eyes, assuming her sister was just trying to guilt her into going and saying whatever she thought would make her go.

"No, he really did. He remembers you and he misses you."

Cameron couldn't come up with a response, and staying quiet. Her sister took her hand and squeezed. They sat in silence until Melanie noticed the two boxes on the coffee table for the first time.

"What the hell? How did you afford these?" Melanie cried, grabbing at the phone box and studying the package.

"I didn't. My boss gave them to me," Cameron explained. Melanie looked up from the phone box and gave her sister a suspicious look.

"They're for work! My computer was four years old and could barely handle the programs I needed. It's a work computer," Cameron defended the lavish gifts. Melanie didn't need to know the truth behind their origins.

"And the phone?" Melanie asked, holding the box in Cameron's face.

"That I don't know. It was delivered with the computer," Cameron dismissed the question, eager to stop talking about Eric's gifts.

Melanie eyed Cameron, then the phone box dubiously. She finally put it back on the coffee table and returned her focus to her original reason for visiting Cameron.

"You can't bitch out of going to Dallas again," Melanie said, her voice full of finality and authority. It reminded Cameron of when Eric tried to glamour her.

"Fine. I'll go," Cameron finally conceded with a sigh. Melanie patted her sister's leg in appreciation and stood.

"Also, we should really tackle that storage unit while we're there. We should do it before he… you know…"

Cameron nodded in understanding. She and her sister smiled sympathetically at each other until Melanie decided to leave.

"Try to get off work this weekend and we'll go. We'll talk more tomorrow," Melanie said, then left Cameron alone.

Not a minute after Melanie left, the door opened again. Cameron looked up from her lap to see Eric standing in the middle of the room, looking smug.

"Well it's nice of you to finally show up," Cameron muttered, anything but pleased at the sight of Eric. Her obvious annoyance did not faze Eric.

"You've certainly changed your tune. All week you've been desperate for me," Eric said pompously. His blood had intense effects on Cameron, especially with regards to her newly insatiable sex drive. And with their new connection, he was completely aware of everything she felt, making him an even bigger jerk for not showing up for an entire week.

"Well I took matters into my own hands. By the way, I'll be going to Dallas this weekend," Cameron said, trying to change the subject from her intense wanting of him, to something more mundane.

"Bet that wasn't enough, though, was it?" Eric smirked, ignoring the last statement. Cameron stared at him pointedly. Naturally, she was feeling all sorts of things just at the sight of Eric, but she was determined to keep her desires under control. She was trying to make a point.

"Where the hell have you been anyway? You save my life and I drink your blood, and then we do it all night. And then I don't hear from you for a week and then you send me a computer that costs more than my car, plus a new phone and a ridiculous, totally sketchy check from a Swedish soccer team, as if any of that makes me feel better! And now you show up when it's convenient for you! How nice for you! You get to call all the shots and you're handsome and rich and powerful, so you can do whatever the fuck you want! I'm Eric Northman, and I'm just gonna fuck with some random psychic chick 'cus it's hilarious! I like to play god and meddle with the lives of lesser beings!" Cameron blew up, ranting at Eric. At some point during her deluge of words, she had gotten up from the couch and stuck a finger in Eric's face to help make her point. She tried to deepen her voice to mimic Eric, but ultimately she was too angry to hold it for long.

"Are you finished?" He asked, slightly amused, as Cameron puffed, trying to catch her breath.

"No!" She shouted. Cameron took a step away from Eric, realizing how close she had gotten to him. It was difficult, because she wanted to be extremely close to him, but she also wanted to hit him. She was feeling an inexplicable rage, and wanted desperately to lash out at him. All week her feelings have been oddly intense; something else that Eric's fault.

"My sister thinks I'm hooking up with my boss, by the way! Normal people don't give other normal people this sort of gift. None of this is normal! I just wanted to be normal, and now I'm not! My dad is dying, and you're wearing a goddamn suit! Do you have any idea how I feel?" Cameron sensed that the words coming out of her mouth probably didn't make much sense, but it felt good to get them out. She couldn't exactly talk to Melanie, and she had no friends to speak of, especially ones that she would be able to share any of her situation with.

"Actually, I do. We're bonded, if you recall," Eric pointed out.

"Shut up!" Cameron yelled, causing Eric to raise an eyebrow in response. She got the impression that he wasn't too happy with how she was speaking to him.

"Might I also point out that you _have _been hooking up with your boss. And there is nothing normal about either one of us. Especially you. You are far from normal, Cameron. Embrace it."

Cameron crossed her arms and stuck out her lower lip like a petulant child. He was right, and she hated to admit it. There was nothing she could say in response that wouldn't make her look even more stupid.

"Are you done now?" Eric asked expectantly.

"Yeah," Cameron rolled her eyes.

"Good. I _was_ going to tell you to keep Saturday night open, but it appears you have made other plans," he said. Cameron perked up in curiosity of what Eric had planned. A small part of her couldn't help but hope it was something special, but she knew better than to ever think Eric would plan any sort of date. He may have been a sex god, but he wasn't exactly romantic.

"Oh," Cameron said softly, unsure of what to really say.

"We'll just have to go tonight. Are you ready?" He asked. Cameron was caught off guard.

"Now?" She balked; he nodded. "Is what I'm wearing OK?" she asked, looking down at her track pants and UT t-shirt. She hoped he would tell her to put on something nicer, but he just nodded.

Before Cameron could even think to put on shoes, Eric grabbed her hand, led her outside to the porch, pulled her into his arms and picked her up. A second later, Cameron could feel them launching into the air, and she closed her eyes against the wind.

Cameron waited for what felt like forever until Eric landed and set her down on soft grass. Cameron opened her eyes to see that she was facing Eric. He looked down at her, expressionless.

"I need you to look around here. I need as much of your help as possible," Eric said. His request sound just like that- a request. It wasn't an order or a threat. Cameron could sense the sincerity. He was asking for her help. Whatever she was helping him with, it was important to him.

Cameron nodded and smiled. It was a complete one-eighty from twenty minutes ago, but it was Eric. He made her a little bit irrational.

She turned to survey the land. Through the dark she saw a gravel drive, and followed it through the grassy lawn they were standing with her eyes. The drive ended next to an old antebellum house that Cameron had never seen before. The house appeared to be in the middle of being remodeled. There was scaffolding up the sides of the house, a ladder leaning against the porch railing, paint cans lined up on the steps, a table saw and other pieces of equipment were set up in the grass right next to the porch.

Cameron's heart sank as she realized where she was, and whose house she was looking at.

* * *

><p>"What's A Girl To Do?" by Bat For Lashes<p> 


	21. Go Outside

Well, it's been a really long time, hasn't it? I took a long time off from writing for school. Which paid off, since I made dean's list again. I'm sure many of you would rather I update than get a good GPA, but boohoo. Anyway, I started summer classes earlier this week. So more school ugh. But I've been bitten by the inspiration bug so I should be updating a lot more often now. The next chapter is already about halfway finished. I may start sacrificing length for frequency, though. I'm trying to finish up before the season 5 premier, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

So, sorry that this is short. But I felt like I just had to post something for yall. Thanks for the patience.

* * *

><p>Rather than addressing Cameron or the situation, Eric stared unblinkingly at the dark and empty house. Cameron couldn't read his expression, but found that she didn't really want to look at him anyway.<p>

"Can I go inside?" Cameron asked, barely above a whisper. She was hesitant to break the silence, but the sooner she looked around the property, the sooner she could leave it. But Cameron knew that even if she left within the next five minutes, she would still revisit the old house through her visions. Its images were bound to haunt her, even though she just wanted to forget it, and the woman who lived there.

Eric nodded and watched Cameron make her way up to the porch slowly. He stayed behind, not wanting to disrupt whatever process he thought she may have.

As she climbed the steps of the porch, Cameron felt a bitter feeling gripping her insides. She was about to explore a creepy and abandoned house to help Eric find her competition. It probably wasn't healthy, or even right, to think of a woman who had gone missing and needed help, as her competition. Especially for a man that she didn't even have.

Stepping into the dark foyer, Cameron did her best to squash all of her doubts. Even if she had more of a backbone to tell Eric exactly what she thought, she still wouldn't have much of a say. He had the upper hand, and always would. It was in Cameron's best interest to help Eric find the telepath, even if it would probably break her heart.

Cameron looked around the first floor slowly. All of the furniture was covered in tarps and pushed to the centers of the rooms. It reeked of paint and other fumes. Knowing that seeing the house in its current state wouldn't help much by way of visions, Cameron took peaks beneath the tarps every so often to see bits and pieces of antique furniture.

As she entered the kitchen, a chill ran up Cameron's spine. She couldn't quite place the feeling, but she knew it wasn't good. Either something had happened there, or something was going to happen; she couldn't be sure. As she moved through the room, a second-long flash of a puddle of blood on white linoleum crossed Cameron's line of vision.

The flooring in the vision matched the flooring in the kitchen. Cameron turned around wildly, searching the floor for any signs of blood spatter, but found it to be completely clean.

Thoroughly creeped out by the kitchen, Cameron hurried off to the staircase in the foyer and climbed them with trepidation. She was worried of what she would feel on the second story of the old home. But after a quick sweep of all of the rooms without any incident, Cameron hurried back downstairs and into the yard.

Eric looked down at her expectantly as she rejoined him.

"Don't you dare expect me to do anything like that ever again," Cameron muttered angrily. The entire exploration had felt like an invasion of someone's privacy.

"Thank you," Eric said quietly. Cameron's eyes widened slightly in surprise at Eric's thanks, but she didn't say anything. It seemed like a rare thing for Eric to say, so she didn't question it.

The fact that Eric seemed to appreciate what she was doing for him put Cameron's mind at ease, or at least a little bit.

It was very hard for her to stay angry with Eric. She knew that wouldn't do her any good, but the guy was so flawed. He was showing her a different side of him. Perhaps she was projecting it, but he seemed worried. Though, the object of his worry wasn't exactly ideal to her.

Cameron stared the house down, taking one final look before she asked Eric to take her home.

Once back inside her apartment, she perched herself on the armrest of the couch. Eric remained by the door.

"Call me if you see anything relevant," he said, his hand moving to the doorknob.

"You're not staying?" Cameron asked before she could stop herself. Her body had been craving his for so long that her filter was failing. She cringed at how desperate she sounded, but didn't make any sad attempts at explaining herself. There would be no fooling Eric, and it was best to just get to the point with him.

"Would you like me to stay?" He asked her, removing his hand from the door and stalking slowly towards her. When he was close enough that Cameron couldn't control her actions anymore, she stood and met him the rest of the way. She grabbed at the back of his head with one hand, pulling him down to her, and slid her other hand up and down his torso as they met in a heated kiss.

Eric's hands were at her hips, quickly taking control of the situation. Both hands slid down and around her thighs, resting just below her bottom, giving him the grip to life her from the ground. Cameron simultaneously wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist as he straightened up. Before she knew it, her back connected with her mattress and clothes were being pulled off.

Eric dressed and left almost as soon as they were finished, leaving Cameron half asleep and alone. She awoke several hours later to daylight and a strange feeling. Usually after a night spent with Eric, she felt more satisfied and full. But after the previous night, something felt off. She was feeling empty and wrong. She felt gross, almost like she was hungover. Unsure of what she was feeling, Cameron went back to bed in an effort to sleep it off.

She woke again around 2 that afternoon, and felt even worse. Her head felt clogged and her joints were stiff. It was a feeling that Cameron had long associated with too much sleep. Besides this, she was still feeling the strange empty feeling. She tried to decipher how she was feeling, to come up with some sort of semi-accurate description, but it was hard to pinpoint. All she could say for certain was that she did not feel good. Everything felt wrong.

Still confused, she went to take a quick shower. After picking at a meal and failing to distract herself with television, she set her mind to work. Though she was hardly productive. Her mind kept drifting off to the previous night spent with Eric. It had been cheap sex, or at least felt like it. Cameron had indeed been craving him. She longed for his touch and attention. And it had been damn good attention. But she started questioning any subconscious motives.

Towards the end of the evening, Cameron had decided that maybe asking Eric to stay had been her subconscious mind's way of re-staking her claim on the man. It was entirely possible that the sex had just been a territorial action just as much as it was an act of passion.

Thoroughly disgusted with herself and her actions, Cameron drank herself to sleep. After a bottle of cheap wine, she passed out on the couch.

A little after 9 the next morning, Cameron was awoken by persistent knocking on her door. She sat up slowly, careful not to lose her balance. She stood up even more slowly, and hobbled towards the door. Before opening it, she ran a hand through her hair quickly and straightened out her shirt.

"What?" Cameron groaned as she opened the door. Melanie rolled her eyes and pushed her way into the apartment.

"You look radiant. I see our dear friend wine came over to play last night," Melanie said, picking up the empty bottle of wine from the coffee table and examining the label with disgust. "You might as well be drinking rain water."

"I'll keep that in mind. What do you want?"

"Don't forget to ask off of work for this weekend. I wanted to remind you," Melanie answered.

"What for?"

"Dallas, stupid."

"Oh god, no. Mel, I told you I don't want to go," Cameron whined.

"It needs to be done. I want to clean out dad's storage unit and get everything in order. I've already arranged for Jackson to stay at a friend's house. You only have to go for the weekend, but I think I'm gonna stay longer. I want to talk to dad's doctors and I have meetings with his lawyer and financial planner," she explained.

"Mel, sorry, but I really don't want to go. I don't want to drive four hours for just two nights."

"I was actually thinking of flying. I'll pay, don't worry. Just tell your boss you have a family matter and you'll be gone Friday morning through Sunday afternoon."

Cameron sighed and agreed. Getting away from Shreveport and putting some distance between herself and Eric seemed like a good idea. Something tedious and mundane like cleaning out her father's storage unit seemed like it would be just enough to get her mind off of her situation.

After Melanie left, Cameron took a shower and drank a ton of water. She sat herself down in front of her computer and pulled up her email. She decided that she would much rather send Eric an email than call him or tell him in person about her trip to Dallas.

The email was simple. She merely wrote that she was going with her sister to take care of her dad's affairs and that she would be back by Monday. She avoided checking her email for the rest of the week, scared of what his response might be.

Cameron figured that he must not have minded too much, considering he didn't call or visit her at all. Friday morning she finally worked up the nerve to check her email on her phone as she sat in the airport terminal. Melanie was waiting in the long Starbucks line, so she was relatively alone.

Pulling up her email, Cameron scrolled through the new junkmail that had accumulated over the past few days until she found the reply email from Eric. She took a deep breath and opened the email.

She really had nothing to worry about, but she found herself feeling disappointed and a little angry.

_I'll let him know. -Pam_

Frustrated, Cameron buried her phone in her carry on and waited for Melanie and the plane to arrive.

* * *

><p>"Go Outside" by Cults<p>

Please review!


	22. Asleep

Here's a nice long chapter to hopefully make up for the wait! My first summer class is now over. I have all of June off.

I know I said my goal was to finish this before season 5 started. And I know that season 5 starts in exactly one week. I seriously doubt I will make that goal, because there's still a lot of shit that I need to get through. So let me just say that I will be COMPLETELY IGNORING season 5 with this story. Unless of course something interesting happens that I could work into this plot (but that doesn't seem likely).

Please review! They're my bread and butter.

* * *

><p>The sisters started work by taking stock of all of the items in the large unit. The photographed everything and made lists. After lunch, they started on the small unit, which was where most of the work awaited.<p>

The unit was filled with stacks upon stacks of boxes. Some of the boxes were filled with useless things like office supplies and kitchen items. They set aside such boxes for donation.

Other boxes were filled with their mother and father's old clothing. There were a few dresses that Melanie couldn't stand to get rid of, but everything else went to the donation pile.

There were old toolboxes, sewing kits, an incomplete set of pots and pans, Cameron's old soccer uniforms from middle school, Melanie's yearbooks, shared toys, and other relics from their childhood. By the time they started finding things that had belonged to them, productivity decreased greatly. Melanie would find an old toy in the box she was going through, hold it up for Cameron to see, and they would start talking about the memories attached to it.

It was odd bonding with Melanie, but Cameron enjoyed it. They hadn't been very close as sisters, especially when they were little. There was a significant age gap between them. Growing up, Melanie wanted nothing to do with her baby sister. As soon as Melanie hit her teen years, their fights just got worse. By the time she went off to college, they barely spoke to each other. But Cameron was glad that they could still find at least a few shared happy memories from their childhood.

They decided to call it a day just before six. They loaded the car with things to take to a donation center and locked up the storage unit. On the way to dinner, they dropped off the boxes. Dinner was long and enjoyable. They spent the night reminiscing even more.

Saturday was spent in much the same fashion. They had gotten through a lot of the storage unit. They had gotten caught up once they found boxes full of photographs that they fully intended to keep. The afternoon and evening were spent sifting through junk and making another trip to the donation center.

Cameron's flight home left a little after 6 that evening. She spent the morning paying a quick visit to her father with Melanie. He was barely coherent or lucid, so the visit was short. They then went back to the storage unit to finish up. There were only a few boxes left. One box was full of their mother's old salt and pepper shaker collection. A few were full of legal documents that Melanie sorted through. The last box opened was full of old composition notebooks that Cameron had never seen before. Curious, she opened the first one on the top and flipped through its pages. It looked like a diary or journal. Every few pages would be dated. Cameron recognized the handwriting as her father's. She had no idea that he kept journals. The one she was holding was dated 1984. The entries were dull. She went through all of them, checking the dates. The earliest one was dated 1981. The most recent was 2004, the same year that he had been put into a home.

When it was time for Cameron to head to the airport, she packed the first six notebooks into her carryon, and gave Melanie specific instructions to bring the rest home. She read the first one as she waited for the plane to arrive and during the short flight from Dallas to Shreveport.

Had she been in a better mood, or wanted anything to do with him, Cameron could have easily made a quick stop at Fangtasia before going home. It was on the way. But she was still stupidly angry at Eric. It was dumb, and she doubted he would ever even care.

No, she would just have to distance herself from him again. As she arbitrarily took the long route back home to specifically avoid Fangtasia's part of town, she bitterly recounted every time that same thought had occurred to her. How many times had she stupidly thought that distance between her and Eric was best? When she wanted to maintain a professional, working relationship with him? There was hardly anything professional about Eric. He could act the part well, but it wasn't his nature.

And then Cameron bitterly thought about Eric's nature. She wasn't even sure about that. She had seen many different sides to him, and sometimes she wondered if he had multiple personality disorder. Anger subsided into a dark sort of humor, as she silently laughed at herself for thinking of new nicknames for him. Her favorite was Sybil, or anything with a healthy amount of dirty words.

As she pulled up to the dark house, a new mindset started to take shape. A new sort of resolve built up in Cameron. These new feelings consisted of acceptance. But not the sort of acceptance where she would just roll over and take whatever Eric gave her. Rather, she was starting to accept that this was her life. She was involved with vampires, one that she quite liked (against her better judgment), and who loved another. But the other was gone, and Cameron would cross that bridge when she came upon it. Until then, she was determined to make the most of her situation.

Cameron's new mindset was teetering dangerously close to the edge of the common female idea that they can change their man. There would be no changing Eric. But Cameron wondered if she could at least change his feelings.

Cameron went to bed reading the second notebook. The entries had been interesting so far. Her father talked about how a therapist he had been seeing recommended journaling to sort through his thoughts and feelings. Cameron noticed that the first few entries were dated rather far apart, but soon he was writing at least once a day, sometimes more.

Some of the entries were had to make sense of. Sometimes he wrote them like a proper letter. Some of them were practically essays. Some were stream of consciousness and made little sense to her.

Some entries described the strange feelings that he had been having. He often described it as déjà vu. It took Cameron a while to realize just how often he talked about that. How he felt like he had experienced something before its occurrence. That sparked a vague interest in Cameron, but she kept reading. Later on in the second book, her father started to describe dreams. Though they were unlike normal dreams. They were incredibly vividly described, and from the way her father described them, almost lucid.

A few entries after the first description of a dream, Cameron noted her father's jagged and hurried script. The tone and the manner in which he wrote were enough to tell her that something had him on edge when the entry was written. He was freaking out. He recounted the dream, and then wrote about how the dream had happened in real life.

It had been something trivial; there was a weather advisory report on the television, warning of a hail storm. He tried to move his car under the protection of a large tree, but it wouldn't start. That was it. But the dream perfectly fit what happened in real life.

Cameron had to read both entries several times before she could let herself even begin to think what this meant. She hungrily read the rest of the notebook, which had two more similar instances. She moved onto the third notebook quickly. It was nearly 2 in the morning, but she kept reading.

She read for hours about her father's dreams and how the dreams would come true days later. By the fourth notebook, he had become much more calm about it, and had accepted it. Cameron could even sense a sort of excitement about the dreams. A few entries were dedicated to his anxiety about what he was, or what was wrong with him, or if he was the only one. He also worried about what he would tell others, especially his wife.

Cameron finished the sixth notebook around 8 in the morning. The sun had long since come up, and she felt far from tired.

When she closed the final notebook, she couldn't help but start crying. She cried long and hard. She sobbed and could barely breathe. Her nose was clogged up, and her eyes stung. Her skin burned from the salty tears, and her throat was nearly horse by the time she was done.

Her loud, ugly sobbing subsided into sniffles and hiccups as she uncurled herself from the fetal position. She startled a mass of used tissues and Bo, who had dutifully curled up against her back.

She didn't know why she cried, but it felt good once she was done. A lot of pent up anxiety, anger, frustration, and sadness had been released. But most of all, she had been overcome by an overwhelming, yet nameless feeling.

Her father was like her. He had dreams that predicted the future. Her odd little quirk had come from somewhere, rather than just some random curse the she thought had plagued her.

During a long shower, Cameron couldn't help but wish that she could still talk to her father. She wished that she could have a conversation with him about their shared ability.

After her shower, she dressed and checked her email. There was nothing but alerts about sales for online stores that Cameron bought something from once, and an email from the alumni association at her high school. Nothing from Fangtasia or Eric. She hadn't expected anything from him, especially since she never replied to Pam's email. But Eric's absence was starting to concern her. He usually showed up.

As Cameron closed her laptop, a flash of an image of Eric sitting on the edge of her bed crossed her mind and she knew that he would grace her with his presence later that night. She had half a mind to not be home.

Thoughts of Eric were quickly replaced with thoughts of her father. How could she not have known about him? She had always been an astute child. She knew that something was wrong with her mother before her parents broke the news of her imminent death. She knew something was wrong when her father lost his job while she was in the third grade, and her parents had tried to keep it a secret from her and Melanie. It wasn't that she had seen those events coming, but the worry, anxiety, and fear were easy for her to pick up on.

Those three feelings were far too familiar for Cameron. She had experienced them often. Her teen years were full of them. She worried about what she was and what was happening to her. She had anxiety attacks about her future. What did the visions mean for her and how were they going to affect her future life? And she feared judgment. That particular fear had come true when she confided in her mother who then whisked her off to the psychiatric ward of the children's hospital.

But Cameron had also been good at hiding those feelings. She had to be. It was the only way to convince the doctors and her mother that there was nothing wrong with her. Or if there was something wrong with her, that it wasn't what they thought and she had no reason being there. It was a hard sell, but she was home, off her meds, and out of therapy within a year. Though, nobody knew she was off her meds because she had a nasty habit of dropping the pills down the sink drain.

Cameron wondered if her father had gone through a similar experience. Had his wife and her mother known? Surely not, because she probably would have sent him away, too. Cameron's mother was never great at crisis management. Her solution was always hiring someone else to do it. Cameron could understand that, though. They had the means. Both of her parents had come from money, and her father had been hugely successful in the Dallas real estate and land development market. The upper class North Dallas mindset was and would probably always be "take care of it, sweep it under the rug, and pray that nobody finds out."

Even with this way of thinking, how could her own father not reach out to her when he saw her going through the same thing? She assumed he didn't want to out himself, but the idea that he cared more for his reputation than her own comfort and feelings was deeply hurting. She had been a miserable mess until she learned to accept what she was and minimize it as much as possible, even though she really didn't know what she was. Cameron still didn't know. Eric had only ever been vague about his dealings with other supernatural beings.

The idea of being labeled as "supernatural" was odd. It didn't feel like it fit. Cameron rejected it and decided to not try and put a name on it; it was easier not to.

In her musings, Cameron's mind wandered to the subject of the mind-reader. Was that what they were officially called? She couldn't remember much of what Eric had told her about the other woman, which was admittedly not very much. Eric was secretive at best, and she could tell that he was doing his best to keep the two women separate. Cameron was grateful for this, but she was still morbidly curious. She knew that knowing more about this other woman would just hurt her, and that she would compare herself to her until it hurt, but she wanted to know more. She wanted to know what could hold Eric's attention in such a way.

As the sun moved lower in the sky, Cameron wondered what Eric would do if she had gone missing. Would he keep all of her things and renovate her house if she had one? Would he recruit someone like her to help search? She never let herself answer those speculations, because she feared that she wouldn't like the logical answers.

When Cameron noticed that it was starting to get dark, she stood from her desk and went to her room. She cleaned up the tissues and made her bed, but she knew Eric would probably be able to tell that she had an emotional breakdown anyway. She gathered her father's notebooks and hid them behind the some clutter under her bed. She picked up clothes on her bedroom and bathroom floor and threw them in a corner to wait until she felt like doing laundry. As soon as she ran out of things to pick up, she sat down on her bed and waited. After twenty minutes she got bored and went back to the living room to watch television. She channel surfed until she settled on reruns of "Roseanne."

Cameron got through three episodes until she started to wonder when the hell Eric would show up. There had been no indication in her vision of exactly when he would be there, or even if it would be that night. But the vision had been accompanied by a prickling feeling on the back of her neck that usually meant that it would be soon. Sometime during the fifth episode, she fell asleep.

When Cameron woke, it was dead silent and dark. She knew she had fallen asleep with the lights and television on. She then realized that she was on her bed.

"You sleep like the dead."

Cameron reached over to turn on the lamp on the bedside table and rolled over. Eric was lying on the bed next to her, back propped against the headboard and pillows, and hands folded in his lap.

"I was tired of waiting for you," Cameron mumbled as she sat up and rubbed her face tiredly. She had been in a deep sleep.

"You knew I was coming?" Eric asked. "Your ability is developing," He said before she could answer. His voice had a happy sort of tone. He obviously pleased.

"How was your trip?" he asked her, moving on from the topic of Cameron's progress as whatever she was. The fact that he was actually asking about her trip to Dallas struck her as odd. He usually didn't care about silly things like that. He never asked how her day was, how she was doing, or how her trips were. He was probably getting at something.

"Fine," Cameron answered shortly. She didn't want to discuss it with Eric. She stood from the bed and retrieved a hair tie from the bathroom counter. She stood at the foot of the bed, pulling her hair up into a top knot with Eric watching her carefully. Before she could stop herself, she glanced down at the bed, the spot where she had hidden the notebooks. Eric surely noticed, but she hoped that he wouldn't think anything of it. Though the look on his face told her otherwise.

"Anything interesting happen?" he pressed.

"No." Cameron lied.

"You were angry a lot this past weekend," he said, looking at her pointedly. It almost looked as if he was concerned. "You were also very upset this morning."

"I'm a girl, it's what I do."

"You've been very emotional lately," Eric observed, ignoring Cameron's sass.

"I have a lot going on, in case you haven't noticed. Most of it is on you," Cameron accused. It was easy to blame Eric, though it probably wasn't _entirely_ all his fault.

Eric sat up and swung his long legs over the side of the bed. His torso twisted so that he was still facing her, though his feet were planted firmly on the ground. His gaze was unusually soft. It made Cameron want to tell him everything. She wanted to tell him about every little insecurity she was feeling. She wanted to tell him about the notebooks and her daddy issues. She wanted to vent about her sister. And most of all, she wanted to express her fears. A kernel of worry was blossoming in her chest that she would end up like her father. Was she doomed to lose her mind like he did? Was her ability to see the future going to ruin her own? She wanted to cry some more and have Eric tell her that everything would be fine and that she had nothing to fear.

Despite his intimidating potential for damage and pain, Eric was also comforting. He was safe. As long as he was there and he wanted her, nothing could get to her. He was nothing short of invincible. He was a stable rock in Cameron's ever fluid life.

But then there was the other woman. She also wanted to confess her insecurities about her. She wanted to have Eric tell her that she was the only one for him and that he was only searching for this woman because they were friends, or that she was useful, anything but that he loved her. Cameron knew better than to bring the mind-reader up, though. Eric would only get defensive and prickly. He would close up and leave. As difficult as he could be, she didn't want him to go. Whenever he wasn't around, Cameron didn't mind; she didn't want him there anyway. But as soon as he showed up, she never wanted him to leave.

"What had you so upset this morning?" Eric repeated. He seemed determined to find out. She wondered if it was curiosity or genuine concern. The way his brow was slightly drawn together and the tension in his shoulders told Cameron it was the latter.

She sighed; her resolve crumbling. Though she couldn't make herself say the words. She crossed her arms over her chest, a physical manifestation of trying to stay strong.

Eric stood, rounded the corner of the bed, and sat down on the edge in front of Cameron. He grabbed her hand, uncrossing her arms. His free hand reached up to her face, cupping her cheek, then moving to push her hair behind her ear. It was sweet and tender, and Cameron could feel the flood gates breaking. His gaze caught her own, and she was unable to look away. She didn't want to. All she cared to look at were his eyes. They were enchanting and deep. It was clichéd to say, but she was lost in them.

Cameron blinked and turned her eyes down towards his chest. She couldn't look into his eyes anymore. The hand that had been in her hair traveled to her chin and pushed it upwards. She had no choice but to look him in the eye. Before she could stifle it, a strangled sob escaped her.

She wasn't sure if Eric pulled her down to his lap, or if she collapsed there on her own, but she was soon crying into his chest. His arms were around her, a hand soothingly rubbing her back, the other holding her in place on her thigh.

Cameron realized what she was doing and pulled her head away from him. She tried to stand, but Eric wouldn't let her go. She avoided looking him in the face, and dried her eyes with the backs of her hands as she tried to stop the uncontrollable sobbing. She hiccupped and sniffed a few times until she finally calmed herself down.

"What's under the bed?" Eric asked quietly. Cameron huffed and rolled her eyes. Of course he caught that. Eric caught everything.

"My dad was like me," Cameron said, ignoring his question. Her voice was unintentionally small and weak. She cleared her throat.

Eric was silent. She looked up to his face, trying to decipher what he was thinking, though she had no clue. Cameron briefly wondered if the other woman could read the minds of vampires.

"You're afraid you'll end up like him. You think your mind will deteriorate just like his," Eric finally said, looking her in the eye.

"How did you… how do you know that?"

"I know a lot about you and your family," Eric answered vaguely.

"The asshole never told me that I wasn't alone, and now I'm doomed to go crazy like he did."

"He's not crazy, and he doesn't have Alzheimer's. His mind has detached itself from the present."

"So he's lost in the visions?" Cameron asked, trying to make sense of what Eric was telling her. "How do you even know that?"

"To put it simply, yes. And I've been looking into his medical records."

"Illegally, I'm sure," Cameron rolled her eyes, causing Eric to smirk. "Someday you're going to get in trouble, and I'm just going to laugh. Don't come looking to me for help."

"You're the last person I would ask for legal advice. You car insurance expired three months ago and you pirate music as if your life depends on it," Eric taunted.

"I don't even want to know how you know these things. But stay out of my internet history!" Cameron scolded.

"Dare I ask what you're hiding?" Eric asked through a devilish grin. Cameron blushed at the insinuation.

"Nothing! It's the principle of it! Do you read my emails too?" she accused.

"I suppose you won't like it when I tell you I also observed your father."

"What, you mean like, you saw him?" Cameron sputtered.

"I even spoke to him once. It was a difficult conversation to keep up with but it was enlightening all the same," he confessed.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that."

"It doesn't matter. What's done is done." Cameron shrugged at his words. He had a point, and she doubted that snooping in someone's medical records and breaking into a nursing home were the worst things he'd ever done.

"You never answered my question," Eric reminded her after a few beats of silence.

"What question?"

"What's under the bed?"

"Oh… My dad kept journals, apparently. I found a box full of them in Dallas, so I brought some home with me. My sister is bringing the rest. They're how I found out about this," she explained.

"Why did you hide them?" Cameron sighed and thought about her answer. She honestly wasn't sure why she did it.

"I don't know." She shrugged and hoped that it was a good enough answer for him. Eric nodded, then brought a hand up to her face to push her hair behind her ear again. IF she was being perfectly honest, Cameron loved it whenever he showed her any kind of affection. But she loved it best of all when he touched her hair. The touch was always gentle and comforting. He must have known it because he ran his fingers through the length of her hair and pushed it back again.

Before she could lose herself in the moment, a thought occurred to Cameron.

"When did you see my dad?" she questioned.

"Several months ago. Not long after we met," he answered coolly.

"Are you kidding me? You've known this about my dad and you didn't say anything to me about it?" Cameron wasn't entirely sure if she was supposed to be mad in this situation, but it seemed appropriate. He had kept something relatively important from her. He had gone poking around in her life.

"As mad as you are now, you would have been even angrier then. I wasn't sure at that point, but what you've told me tonight confirms what I thought," he answered easily, without remorse. Cameron gave him a dirty look, but accepted it. There was nothing she could do. She had no hope of ever controlling Eric, and she doubted he even knew the meaning of an apology.

"Well next time you have some theories about me, let me know. And ask before you stalk any more of my family members."

"There is no one else of interest. Though, I have been looking back into your paternal ancestry. These things are usually genetic, but there's no useful documentation," Eric reasoned. He brought up an interesting point, which had Cameron wondering how many before her were plagued by visions? Eric seemed like a thorough enough researcher; she doubted he would miss any sort of written evidence. The only way to know if there were relatives like her would be to communicate with the dead, which Cameron figured was probably a viable option, considering all of the supernatural crap she had been exposed to. But it definitely was not a road she was willing to go down. She had enough problems, and she did not want to add ghosts to the mix.

"I'm sorry I cried on you," Cameron muttered, changing the subject. She really did feel embarrassed about it, though it didn't seem to bother Eric. He just shrugged it away. He was being tolerant and kind to her. When Eric acted like this, like she mattered a great deal to him, it was easy to forgive him. He was a charmer and could talk his way out of anything.

Cameron stood from Eric's lap, untangling herself from his long arms. Eric followed her, standing from the edge of the bed, and loomed over her. She couldn't read his expression, but he soon made his intentions clear. He reached out for her, pulling her back to him by her hips. Cameron stepped into him, accepting the embrace. His lips were soon at her jaw, moving towards her ear and then down her neck. A hand eased its way beneath the hem of her shirt.

"I missed you," Eric muttered huskily. He then slowly raked the tips of his fangs across the skin of her neck, before gently biting down. Cameron was too flummoxed by the admission to even care. Actually, it didn't feel half bad. It actually felt good. She pressed herself against him even more, and welcomed the attention. As complicated as Eric made things, it almost all seemed worth it.

* * *

><p>"Asleep" by the Smiths<p>

Reviews are welcomed and encouraged!


	23. To Be Alone With You

Wow, I totally meant to get this out before the season premier. Oops. Things just kept happening (such as marathoning three seasons of Friday Night Lights). Oh well. We are finally starting to get to the good stuff here. The climax of the story.

Just so y'all know, this story will have nothing to do with season 5. Just ignore it. But speaking of, what did y'all think of it? I read too many interviews and spoilers, though, so I wasn't really surprised by anything that happened. Pam in the sweatsuit was well worth the wait. Baddest bitch in town in a kitty sweatshirt.

* * *

><p>Cameron and Eric kept busy for the rest of the week with their Fangtasia duties. She only went in to the bar once, and only for a few hours. Most of her work was taking place at home, which she gladly welcomed. Fangtasia during business hours was loud and distracting. During the day, it was creepy and lonely. Cameron also liked to avoid Ginger. She was nice enough, but annoying and a bit dim. The few times Cameron interacted with Ginger, she asked inappropriate questions and told her more than anyone would care to know about her own sex life. Ginger's filter was almost nonexistent.<p>

Melanie had returned from Dallas. She had foregone a flight home for a rental van stuffed full of boxes and family heirlooms. Of course she had to help Melanie find a place for everything.

"Why did you bring all of this shit back? What's wrong with the storage unit?" Cameron whined as she and Melanie carried a small, antique desk into the house.

"I don't know. I'm kind of regretting it now," Melanie huffed, readjusting her grip on her end of the desk. "I just thought, "hey, this is cute," so I brought it home."

"Stupid," Cameron muttered bitterly.

After maneuvering the desk up the stairs, and Cameron having a brief flashback to her horrific fall down the same steps, the sisters had given up moving the rest of the things into the house.

"Let's just shove everything in the garage until later," Melanie suggested.

"There's no room," Cameron pointed out.

"That sounds like a great weekend project for you," Melanie said. Cameron shot her a dirty glare.

"No fucking way, this is your shit, it's your garage, and I'm not doing it."

"I haven't seen my kid in like a week. Besides, I think it would be good for you. Most of the shit in the garage is yours, anyway," Melanie retorted. She had a point. The garage was stuffed with all of Cameron's things that wouldn't fit in her apartment. Things like old camping gear, soccer equipment, a bike that had seen far better days, boxes of books and other trinkets, and a cat tree that Bo refused to go near.

Cameron begrudgingly accepted the task, secretly planning to get Eric to help her the next time he stopped by, which she hoped would be soon.

Ever since their conversation, Cameron was starting to feel more comfortable with Eric. She was more accepting of the situation. No, it wasn't ideal, but for the time being she was content. She at least knew that she wasn't disposable to Eric, and that on some level, he cared for her. She had no idea how much or how deeply, but he did at least a little bit. Enough so that she knew that she wouldn't have to fear for her life.

Cameron put off doing the garage for as long as she could. Instead, she filled her time with reading the rest of her father's journals. The more she read, the more her fears were confirmed. IT took a lot of reading between the lines, but Cameron could see where her father was starting to lose it. The pressure of his visions burdened him. She wasn't sure of his madness was a result of the pressure, or the visions themselves, though. She couldn't help but stress and worry about that. Was she fated for the same thing? Or did she have an advantage, and hope, with this new-found knowledge?

Cameron found herself anxiously waiting for Eric to come back. She wasn't going to call him, and she wasn't going to go see him. Yes, she wanted to see him, but she at least wanted it to be on her own terms. In hindsight, the logic doesn't make much sense.

She wanted Eric to not only move furniture for her, but she also wanted to seriously talk to him about everything that he knew about people like her. She wanted to pick his brain and arm herself with as much knowledge as possible. She wanted to prepare herself for the future, as ironic as that sounds for a clairvoyant. But knowledge is power, right?

Eric must have picked up on her anxiety and desire to see him, because he showed up that Friday night.

"You know, your worries are starting to get annoying," Eric drawled as she strode into her apartment.

"And you look ridiculous in those pants," Cameron jabbed, smiling at his leather pants. Eric was dressed up for some reason. He was usually in either blazers or track suits. Sometimes jeans and a leather jacket.

"You love these pants."

"I'd like them better if you weren't wearing them," Cameron laughed. Eric quirked a suggestive eyebrow and his hands moved to his zipper.

"If you say so," he smirked.

"Not what I meant! Stop! No! Not going to happen right now! Zip it up, Eric!" Cameron cried, blushing. Eric smiled, happy at the reaction he caused.

"I take it that by "not right now" means that we'll be having sex at some point tonight." Cameron shot Eric a dirty look and stood from her desk.

"I need your help with something. And I want to talk to you about something," she said with as much authority as she could manage, trying to change the subject. Eric waited for her to elaborate. Instead of telling him her plans and giving him the chance to talk his way out of it, Cameron walked past Eric, towards the door. He curiously followed her out the door, down the stairs, and into the garage, where she flipped on the lights.

"I need to organize all of this," Cameron said to Eric. He looked boredly from the pile of boxes and furniture to Cameron.

"And by "I", you mean me," he said.

"Just the heavy things," Cameron shrugged. Eric pouted, but pulled off his jacket and laid it out on the hood of Melanie's car. Cameron smiled triumphantly, glad that she wouldn't have to do this alone, and that glad that Eric had complied so easily.

"Let's get this over with."

Cameron instructed Eric, but halfway through her explanation, her tuned her out and went to work on his own. He flitted around the garage, moving so quickly that it made Cameron dizzy to keep up. He lifted things easily, and in no time, the different boxes and furniture had been organized neatly against the walls of the garage. Cameron guessed that she could probably finally get her car into the garage, what with all the new space.

Cameron was impressed, and jokingly clapped a few times for Eric's benefit.

"Well done," she complimented.

"Moving on. What do you want to discuss?" Eric quickly moved from one topic to another.

"I want to talk about my dad more. I know he pretty much lost his mind because of his visions, but I don't understand if it happened because he was making himself crazy with pressure, or if it was because of the actual visions themselves?" Cameron asked earnestly. Eric thought over his answer slowly.

"You're worried that you'll eventually lose your own mind," he finally said, making an observation. Cameron shrugged, and then nodded. She honestly was afraid of that. "It's hard to say." Eric answered.

"Why?"

"I've never known anyone like you or your father throughout their natural life. The few clairvoyants that I have ever known died prematurely, or I lost contact with them. Some of them were older, but they seemed sane enough."

"In other words, you have no idea," Cameron sighed. Eric shook his head. "You know other people with… weird abilities. Could this happen to them?" she asked, alluding to the mind reader.

"I know what you're trying to get at," Eric warned. Cameron couldn't tell if he wanted her to stay away from the subject, and if he did, how serious he was about it. Feeling brave, Cameron decided to see how far she could push him.

"What do you think happened to her? I mean, she couldn't have just disappeared without a trace. Someone must have taken her, right? Did her powers or her association with vampires put her in danger?" Questions were flowing out of Cameron's mouth before she could think to filter them. Her own curiosity was getting the best of her sense of survival.

"I don't know," Eric said shortly, his tone suggested that he wanted to end the discussion completely. Cameron guessed that he probably did know, and just didn't feel like talking about it with her.

"Fuck you!" Cameron shouted before she could help herself. Her filter really was failing. Eric's brow raised and the corner of his mouth was slightly upturned. He was mildly amused by her outburst. "And don't you dare say something sassy and provocative!" Cameron shouted again as soon as Eric opened his mouth in response, effectively cutting him off. His smirk grew into a grin.

"You have nothing to be concerned about. If you did, I would let you know," Eric said, taking a few steps towards her. Probably to try and comfort her, to try and turn the conversation around. It wasn't difficult to see that she was starting to get angry and frustrated. She was getting emotional and he wanted to shut it down.

"I can tell you're just trying to pacify me," Cameron huffed.

"Is it working?" Eric asked, smirking.

"Shouldn't you be able to tell?" Cameron taunted, poking Eric in the ribs. He probably could have easily avoided the jab, but he allowed her the small defiance. He grabbed her hand before she could pull it away.

"You're not going anywhere that you don't want to go. You're safe," Eric said seriously, pulling Cameron closer to him by her hand. His words weren't meant to just pacify Cameron. He meant them. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened to the other woman in his life, but he wasn't going to let anything happen to the current one. They were two vastly different people in different situations. Where he had failed with one, he would succeed with the other.

Cameron sighed, pressing her forehead against Eric's chest and wrapping her arms loosely around his waist. She could feel his hands running through her hair and she sighed again. It was a content sort of sigh, but a second later Cameron realized that she was feeling something else.

It was an odd sort of melancholy feeling. The feeling reminded Cameron of saying goodbye. The loose embrace almost felt like it would be her last. She couldn't tell if it was a premonition or if she was just being silly.

"Now what's bothering you?" Eric asked, stilling his hands.

"Nothing," Cameron murmured, burying her face in his shirt, trying to fight off the weird feeling. Eric ran a hand through Cameron's long hair one last time, then his hands moved to her shoulders. He gently pushed her back so that he could look her in the eye.

"What's bothering you?" He repeated.

"I don't know. Sometimes instead of visions, I just get weird feelings. But I can't explain this one. Give me a minute," Cameron tried to explain, though to someone who wasn't like her, it would be difficult to understand.

Eric stayed quiet as Cameron pressed herself to him again. If what she was feeling was a premonition, then she was going to hang on to Eric as long as she could. As fucked up as their relationship was, she cared for him. It wasn't exactly a deep and profound love, but she really did care for him. She liked to think that he returned the sentiment. He may have never said anything to that tune, but he sure acted like it sometimes.

The sound of Eric's phone ringing broke the heavy silence. Eric reached around Cameron's arms to pull his phone out of his pocket. He brought the device up to his ear without letting her go. Cameron ignored the conversation, still trying to pinpoint decipher the premonition.

She didn't even realize that Eric had hung up the phone until he was pulling her arms from around his torso.

"I have to go," he told her.

"You shouldn't," she said. She wasn't sure if it was a warning or just her wanting him to stay longer, like a selfish child. Eric smirked then kissed her forehead.

"I'll be back tomorrow," he promised, then vanished.

Cameron rolled her eyes at the now empty garage. Not wanting to be alone down there, she turned off the lights, locked the door, and went up to her apartment. Unable to sleep, she worked for the rest of the night. By morning she was completely finished with the new Fangtasia website, and she was quite pleased with herself. As she closed her laptop and crawled into bed, she thought about how she couldn't wait to show Eric. Her thoughts then returned to the strange feeling from earlier. She hoped that she would get the chance to show Eric the website, to see him again. Something told her that it would be a while, though.

* * *

><p>"To Be Alone With You" by Sufjan Stevens<p>

What did y'all think of the new episode? I want to see conspiracy theories!


	24. I Don't Know If I'll Be Back This Time

Ugh I'm awful and took way too long to even start this. Sorry y'all. But take comfort in the fact that I stayed up until 3 AM to write this, fully knowing that I have training at 10 AM.

BUT ANYWAYS. Episode 2, y'all. What did y'all think? I predict Bill and Eric becoming total bros and I love it. Nora is hands down amazing. Love her to death. Lucy Griffiths is super adorbs, too. Steve is easily my new favorite character. FINALLY CHRISTOPHER MELONI. I am so in love with the Authority. I dig them all, espec that kid.

**Amber:** Congrats on being #150! You're absolutely the sweetest person ever. Thank you for the lovely review. I read the first two books when the show first started, but I didn't start watching the show until last October. I really loved the first two (mostly because I didn't have the show to compare them to). Then in January I decided to start reading the books again, so I started on the third book. I probably got about three chapters in and decided that I hated it. Book Sookie is even more annoying than show Sookie. And as outrageous as the show is, the books are even more so. WEREOWLS? REALLY? Plus it weirds me out whenever I think about who wrote the books. Charlaine Harris is (being totally real here) no Miss Louisiana and it freaks me out whenever I get to one of those sexy scenes and I think about the author.

* * *

><p>The day was spent in a cloud of anxiety. All Cameron could think about was Eric. She could barely focus on a task. She spent an hour in the shower, just standing there. She probably could have spent several more hours in there, but the hot water running out was enough to spur her back into action. There were a few times when she felt like she could actually cry, though she did her best not to.<p>

As the afternoon dragged by, Cameron's reason faded. In a moment of particular thoughtlessness, she actually picked up the phone and tried to call Eric. Of course the phone rang until the voicemail picked up. Cameron even tried calling Fangtasia, hoping that maybe Ginger would answer. She didn't. And even if she had answered the phone, Cameron doubted she would be able to provide anything constructive or useful.

So Cameron spent the rest of her afternoon and evening stressing out and worrying about Eric.

Finally, the sun started to set. Cameron quickly abandoned her spot on the couch, threw on shoes, and ran down to her car. She rushed to Fangtasia, breaking quite a few traffic laws, and made it there just as the sun dipped below the horizon. It was still a little light out, and the parking lot to the bar was completely empty. Cameron pulled around to the back of Fangtasia, where she knew Eric usually parked, assuming he even drove. But there was no car there, either.

It was still too early for anyone to be at the bar, which didn't open for several more hours. Most vampires were probably just not stirring. So she parked her car and used the back entrance, deciding to wait inside for someone to show up, hopefully with answers.

Cameron sat in Eric's office, to which she had at some point been awarded a key to. After a while she could hear movement outside, probably the staff getting ready for opening. Nobody came anywhere near Eric's office, though. Everyone knew better.

After being at Fangtasia for nearly two hours, Cameron finally heard something good. She could hear Pam's voice, barking orders at the staff. If anyone knew anything about Eric, it was Pam.

Not wanting to incite her wrath, despite her eagerness to talk to someone, Cameron waited for Pam to come into the office. She didn't want to talk to Pam in front of the staff, and she didn't want to make it seem like something was wrong in front of the staff.

Cameron was trying to think of what she would say, how she would word her anxiety, when Pam came into the office, muttering angrily under her breath. Cameron heard something about incompetence and bad fashion, but ignored Pam's obvious disdain for the Fangtasia staff.

"What are you doing here?" Pam asked, not even sparing Cameron a glance as she strode across the room to the desk. She shuffled papers around on Eric's desk, looking for something.

"Is Eric coming tonight?" Cameron asked, eyes attracted to the sparkly red dress Pam was wearing.

"No," Pam answered shortly. Cameron couldn't see, but Pam rolled her eyes, unimpressed by the perceived sentiment. She assumed Cameron was just being lonely and clingy.

"Do you know where he is?" Cameron tried again.

"Look, he's busy tonight. You and your psychic snatch are just gonna have to wait until tomorrow night," Pam snapped, still tearing through the clutter on the desk.

"Is he OK?" Cameron ignored Pam, determined to get any sort of useful answer. The question caught Pam's attention, though. She paused her search and straightened up. She turned around to full face Cameron, giving her an icy stare.

"Why?" she asked, her tone just as icy.

"Please just tell me what he's doing and I can tell you," Cameron bargained.

"He's running errands for our beloved king," Pam said stonily. "What do you know, Miss Cleo?"

"Nothing for sure. I haven't seen anything, I promise you. I could just be worried for no reason, but I don't know. I don't know anything," Cameron rambled, desperate to express herself, but having a difficult time of it.

"If I were you, I'd figure it out," Pam warned, her protectiveness towards her maker showing through.

"I swear, if I knew or suspected anything, I'd tell you. Eric's been really good to me, and I'd do anything to return the favor," Cameron defended herself. Pam eyed her curiously. She was mildly surprised and confused at the loyalty that Cameron was showing.

"Well, at least make yourself useful if you're going to be lurking around here all night," Pam ordered, "I can't find a damned thing in here."

"Of course," Cameron moved across the room, and took position on the opposite side of the desk of Pam. "What are you looking for? Go take care of things out there, I'll do this."

"We're low on cocktail napkins, of all things. We were supposed to get a shipment yesterday. I need the invoice so I know who's head to rip off," Pam instructed. She left the office without further instruction, leaving Cameron to organize the desk.

Cameron assumed that Pam just wanted her to find the slip, and that both she and Eric would get angry if she actually organized everything into neat piles, but she needed a menial task to distract her.

After only a few minutes of looking, Cameron found the invoice Pam was looking for. Making an executive decision, Cameron dialed the number on the paper using the office phone. The man who answered was nice and very apologetic about the delay. He promised a delivery before the end of the night. He also seemed very appreciative of the kindness he was receiving from Cameron. She assumed that he probably took a lot of verbal abuse and death threats from whoever did the ordering at Fangtasia.

By one in the morning, Cameron had neatly organized all of the papers on the desk. Eager for another task, she took to working on the storage shelves. There were crates of drinks, boxes of straws, jars of olives, several industrial sized packages of paper towels, cleaning supplies, and loose stacks of Fangtasia shirts. Everything was just strewn about, unorganized, and generally messy looking. Cameron took the time to pull everything off the shelves, and then put them all back in organized groups. She made sure all of the labels were facing out, and refolded all of the shirts. She didn't think anyone would mind if she took one for herself, and stuffed in her purse once she was done.

By 3, Cameron was sweeping the floor. It didn't actually need it, but she needed something else to do. She was starting to get tired, though. But she couldn't go home. She was determined to finish the night at Fangtasia.

The loud music and crowd outside the office kept her awake, though. Finally out of things to do, Cameron sat down behind the desk and started playing games on the phone that Eric gave her.

Just as Cameron's were starting to droop, the door banged open.

"Out," Pam ordered, an attractive guy in a plaid shirt in tow. Cameron didn't question the order, and quickly gathered her things.

She didn't want to go out into the crowd, and she didn't want to hang out at the bar, so Cameron slumped down onto the ground in the hallway outside of Eric's office. For the appearance of privacy, Cameron fished out a set of ear buds from her purse and put them in. She didn't have much music on her phone, but at least she wouldn't hear anything she didn't want to. The left bud was broken, but at least all Cameron could hear was her music.

Barely ten minutes after sitting down on the floor, the door to Eric's office flew open, and a red blur passed Cameron and out the back door. Cameron was on her feet in an instant, following Pam out the back door. By the time she got outside, Pam was nowhere in sight. She knew that the only thing that would get Pam to move that fast would be Eric.

Cameron let out a frustrated scream. She even went as far as to pick up an abandoned, empty bottle, and hurl it against the wall of Fangtasia. Shattering the bottle wasn't as satisfying as she hoped it would be.

She wanted so desperately to be useful. She wanted to help. But she couldn't. It was impossible. She could never keep up with Pam. She was probably miles away by now. Cameron didn't even know where she went, or if it would be dangerous there.

Cameron walked back into Fangtasia just in time to see the man that Pam had taken into the office, leaving. His neck was bloodied, and he was buttoning his shirt up as he walked away.

Frustrated and angry, Cameron gathered her things and locked up Eric's office. She got into her car and pounded the steering wheel, unsure of where to go or what to do. She tried calling Pam, but it went straight to voicemail. Angry, Cameron threw her phone into the baseboard of the passenger side of her car. It made an awful cracking noise, but she didn't care one bit.

The tires screeched against the pavement as Cameron braked hard, driving way too fast through the parking lot and streets of Shreveport. She drove around the city, choosing streets at random. There was no rhyme or reason. She unreasonably and unrealistically hoped that she would come across some sort of clue or hint. She desperately hoped for a sign of some sort. Hell, even a vision would be great.

The night wore on, and the gas tank was getting dangerously low when Cameron's resolve crumbled. She was just wasting time, gas, and energy. There was no point trying, so she headed back home. By the time she got back to her apartment, there were still a few hours left in the night. There was no way that she would be able to sleep, and hardly anything that could hold her attention.

After pacing the length of her living room several times, she resorted to cleaning. For some reason, cleaning was the one thing that could hold someone's attention in a time of crisis. When their mother died, Melanie cleaned for weeks. When they were stressing over the decision to put their father in assisted living, Melanie cleaned her house until she finally came to the decision to do it. And now Cameron was carrying on that tradition.

Paying no attention to time during the entire cleaning session, Cameron was surprised to see the sun up when she finally stopped. She was even more surprised to see that it was almost one in the afternoon. She was out of things to clean, so she moved on to cleaning out and organizing her hard drive. Once that was finished, she cleaned the keyboard.

Cameron was absolutely helpless. She had no idea what to do. Finally free of tasks, she desperately tried to have a vision. She knew that she couldn't force them, but she felt that she had to at least try. Her visions were the one thing that made her useful. The visions were what brought Cameron and Eric together, no matter how horribly they started out. Cameron just hoped that the visions would be enough to bring them back together again.

She didn't know anything for sure, and it was possible that she was overreacting, but deep down she knew that she wasn't. A horrible feeling of dread settled deep into the pit of Cameron's stomach, and there was nothing she could do about it.

* * *

><p>"I Don't Know If I'll Come Back This Time" by Sea Wolf<p>

Bonus! "That's How It Starts" by the Features

Who are y'alls' (how does this plural/possesive/contraction thing work?) favorite characters this season? Consider me president of the I Heart Nora and Steve Newlin Fan Clubs (but don't worry, no new character will ever take away from my love for Pam).


	25. Wading Deep Waters

I love everything about the Authority. Salome is flawless. All I need is Salome, Nora, Pam, and Steve and I'll be OK. If everyone else died in a train crash, I would be OK. I would be sad about Eric and Bill, though. I want those two little nuggets to be bros so badly. Seriously, someone needs to stake Tara. She was annoying as a human, but MY GOD as a vampire she is UGHH. I can't even find the words to describe how much I do not like her. Y'all's thoughts?

OH AND WHEN DID SOOKIE GET CONTROL OVER HER FAIRY HANDS?

* * *

><p>The more Cameron thought about the odd situation, the more she realized how completely clueless she was. She could write down everything she knew about Eric, and it probably wouldn't even take up an entire page. She liked to think that she understood him to some degree.<p>

She knew that even though they got off to a rocky start, that they eventually came together. If Cameron was being honest, she would call Eric a friend. Take away the sex and the blood, and she would still think that. Eric was a far cry from a boyfriend, even a bad one. And Cameron doubted that Eric had ever had a girlfriend, in the traditional sense of the word. There wasn't much about Eric that was traditional, or conformed to any sort of standard. Except maybe he knew how to be a damn good vampire. He had the intimidation down and could easily strike fear into any human, even a lot of vampires.

But Cameron also knew that that was kind of an act. He had a dry, almost dark sense of humor. He wasn't impossible to amuse, and when he smiled, it was the most charming thing Cameron could remember seeing.

Cameron also knew that the cold and uncaring vampire thing was an act. He obviously cared about Pam. She had the tendency to be obnoxious sometimes, but she always seemed to amuse Eric. Sometimes Cameron would see him look at Pam, and it would remind her of the way her father used to look at her and Melanie. She doubted she would ever understand the maker/progeny relationship, but she imagined that it was a lot like a father and child. Though, she was starting to get that it went way beyond that. Vampires weren't wholesome enough for that.

Eric was also a good business man. He sometimes used his power to intimidate different merchants, insuring that he always got the best quality, lowest prices, and on-time deliveries. He was a lot better at that than Pam. She always just outright threatened and swore. Eric was at least eloquent with his threats.

As she thought about this, Cameron realized how sick it was that she was OK with Eric threatening merchants, and that she somewhat admired him for it. She was at least comforted by the fact that he didn't do that to her anymore.

Time barely ticked forward, and Cameron was starting to get even more anxious. She felt like she needed to do something. She needed to keep her hands or mind busy, maybe even both. The anxiety over Eric was starting to make her crazy.

She either wanted something to do, or for a vision to come. But the long she sat on the couch, the more restless and anxious she got. She took a shower to help calm herself down, but it didn't work. When she got out, she put on comfortable nylon shorts and a t-shirt. Once she put it on, she realized that it was one of Melanie's old sorority shirts that had somehow gotten into her own laundry on accident. It was one of those shirts that gets passed out from cardboard boxes at the end of a party so that you could show people you had a social life without telling them about it. Cameron couldn't be bothered to change out of it, especially since she didn't have any more clean clothing.

Cameron briefly considered maybe painting her nails, but she knew that she would just get antsy and not give them enough time to dry, and then the whole process would be worthless. She tried playing with Bo but wanted nothing to do with her and hid behind the couch.

If she was really desperate, she could have gone to the main house to do something with Jackson or her sister, but she was in no mood to be around people.

It occurred to Cameron that she should probably eat something. She couldn't even remember the last time she ate. Looking through her kitchenette, nothing seemed remotely good. She didn't have an appetite at all, and with all of her nervous energy, Cameron had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to keep anything down anyway.

Standing in her kitchenette, looking through the cupboards for a second time, just in case she found crackers, or something that wouldn't bother her stomach very much, Cameron remembered standing in the kitchen of that old house. She remembered seeing the pool of blood on the floor.

Cameron closed the cupboard, and realized that it wasn't her own. It was white with glass panels, and the shelves were lined with white paper with a small floral print. The dishes were someone else's. Looking around, Cameron realized she was back in that kitchen, only it was daylight. It was spotless and empty.

She moved out of the kitchen and into a formal dining room. The last time Cameron had been in that room, everything was covered in tarps. Cameron then moved into the foyer, which was free of any sign of workmen. Beyond the front door, Cameron noticed that there were no work trucks or sawing stations.

Beyond the foyer was a sitting room, or parlor. Cameron wasn't really sure what the formal name of the room was. For such an old house, she felt like parlor fit.

Up against the furthest wall from Cameron was an old wooden armoire. The doors were wide open. Cameron would have expected shelves of old blankets or antique china to be inside. Instead, the inside of the armoire was lined with stainless steel. Moving closer, Cameron could see that here was a hole in the bottom, and a ladder. Before she could go down the ladder, Cameron was back in her own kitchenette.

Finally, Cameron had something to go on. She had a very strong feeling that she would find Eric, or at least answers in that house. The only problem was that she had no idea where that house was.

Cameron knew that Pam would know, but it was still daytime. Unable to wait, Cameron got into her car and drove over to Fangtasia. She used her key to get in, and snuck past Ginger into Eric's office. She didn't have the patience to deal with Ginger.

She didn't really know what she was looking for, but Cameron stared going through all of the papers on top of Eric's desk. They were all invoices, though.

The weird armoire held Cameron's interest. She bet that when it was closed, it was light tight and safe for a vampire during the day. And knowing that Eric was somehow involved with the house and the owner of the house, she would be willing to bet that he had something to do with the armoire. Things like that cost money, and Eric kept flawless records of everything.

There was nothing in or on the desk. The only place left to look were the filing cabinets. They were of course locked, and Cameron knew that she wasn't supposed to be in them. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Something told Cameron that Eric wouldn't care, anyway.

Cameron looked around the office for something she could use to break the lock. There was an old looking sword hanging on the wall, but it made Cameron nervous and she had a feeling that she would end up in the emergency room if she tried using it.

Sucking up her dislike for Ginger, Cameron left the office and asked her where a toolbox was kept. Ginger of course spent forever questioning her about why she was there and why she needed a toolbox. Cameron gave her some bullshit story and threatened to tell Pam that she was stealing drinks, which shut her right up.

Ginger gave her the toolbox under the bar, and Cameron told her not to be alarmed if she heard loud noises coming out of the office. Cameron locked the door behind her for good measure.

She tore open the tool box, grabbed a hammer, and started banging the hell out of the lock on the first filing cabinet. The lock finally snapped off and Cameron started tearing through all of the files. Nothing grabbed her interest, though, so she started trying to rip the lock off the second drawer.

The second drawer was filled with real estate files. It looked promising to Cameron and she felt like she was on the right track. She leafed through files about all of Eric's properties. He owned a lot of things, and they were all over the world. She noticed that he even had a large property in Sweden. Cameron was willing to bet that he owned that for nostalgic reasons. She knew he was from that part of the world.

Towards the back of the drawer was a file full of papers for Fangtasia. Tucked into that file were a few papers about different properties in the area. There was an apartment in town, a house just outside of town, and a property a few towns over. Cameron grabbed a sheet of paper from the printer and copied down the addresses to the house in town, and the house that was further away. She then did her best to put everything back the way it was, though nothing could be down about the locks. At least she didn't dent the filing cabinets.

Not wanting Pam to freak out and think that someone broke into Eric's office during the day, Cameron left a note for Pam. She could take the cost of new locks, or new filing cabinets, out of her paycheck.

Ginger must have been cleaning the bathroom or something, because she wasn't in the bar when Cameron tucked the toolbox back under the bar and left.

It was almost six when Cameron pulled up to the first house. She knew as soon as she turned onto the street that it was the wrong place. She drove right by it and moved on to the next house.

Cameron had never even heard of Bon Temps, and she had to put the address into her phone to get directions.

As she drove down the highway and out of Shreveport, Cameron fought back a few yawns. She realized that she hadn't slept in days, but she had bigger things to worry about. She didn't even want to think about how long it had been since she'd eaten anything.

A little light came on the dashboard of the car, catching Cameron's attention. Her gas tank was almost completely empty, and the little warning light had come on. She pulled off the highway at the next exit and pulled into the nearest gas station. Cameron stumbled a bit as she got out of the car, and had to hold onto the body of the car as she walked around it to get to the pump.

IT was hard to focus on the keypad as she tried to pay for her gas, but she eventually got it going. Even putting the nozzle into the gas tank was difficult. Cameron couldn't get it to stay in, and the little switch kept coming undone. After a bit of a fight with it, Cameron got it in and working. She decided that she better get something to eat and some caffeine.

She almost tripped over the step up into the gas station, and Cameron's head started to feel heavy. At the time, Cameron thought it was the smell of the place doing this to her, but her mouth and throat went dry. Every step she took was heavy, ands he felt like her head weighed a hundred pounds.

Everything went fuzzy, and then dark. Cameron felt the sensation of falling, but she didn't know if it was just a feeling or if it actually happened. Everything soon stopped, anyway.

Cameron woke up some time later. She was laying on something, and she was moving. She was rocking back and forth, and there was a loud noise. Some sort of wailing. And someone was touching her.

"Hey there, honey. You took quite the spill. Can you tell me who you are?" some kind voice asked. Cameron's head rolled to the side and she could see an older black woman, wearing some sort of blue uniform. She looked like an EMT.

"What?"

"Do you know what happened?" The women kept asking Cameron questions, but she had no idea what was going on. The EMT was trying to keep Cameron engaged, and she did her best to answer the questions. But she was so tired. Shortly after the woman explained that she was being taken to the hospital, Cameron fell asleep, despite the sound of the siren and the woman's questioning.

Cameron woke up some time later in a hospital bed, an IV sticking out of her arm. After a few minutes, she could hear Melanie talking outside, probably to a doctor or someone.

All she could think about was that she had to be somewhere, though she couldn't remember where. She had to do something. Looking towards the window, Cameron saw that it was dark outside. She felt a strange sense of urgency. She had to see someone, but before she could think about it anymore, Cameron fell asleep again.

The next afternoon, Cameron was released from the hospital and Melanie had to drive her home. She was glad to see that her Jeep was waiting in the driveway.

The doctor and nurses had explained that she passed out in the gas station, and that she had to stay in the hospital overnight to be treated for exhaustion. Cameron had to make up some lie about how she hadn't been able to eat or sleep because of anxiety. That part was at least true, but she couldn't give them the real reasons. She lied and said her job was stressing her out. She couldn't tell them that the safety of her vampire boss that she cared deeply for was worrying her senseless. Melanie didn't even know that she worked for vampires.

Melanie had set up the guest bedroom for Cameron, fully intending to mother her until she was better. Cameron already felt fine. She was still a bit tired, and she wanted to at least be in her own bed, but Melanie insisted on being close by.

Cameron ate whatever Melanie put in front of her, and amazingly kept it down. The hospital had given her some medication to take for the next few days, and they referred her to some kind of therapist for her anxiety. They suggested that she try anxiety medication, but they also didn't know the entire truth.

Of course the whole ordeal had Melanie all in a tizzy, but every time she came into the room, Cameron pretended to be asleep. Most of the time she actually was asleep, though.

When she first woke up that morning, Cameron remembered where she had been going and what her goal had been. She couldn't stop thinking about it for the entire day. She knew that Melanie would never let her leave the house, but she had to go find Eric. She had to get to that house on Hummingbird Road in Bon Temps.

Cameron did everything she was supposed to all day. She slept, ate, drank lots of water, and slept some more. Finally Melanie went to bed, and Cameron waited a few hours until he was absolutely sure that she was asleep. Around 1, Cameron got out of bed, went up to her apartment, and changed into a pair of jeans and a clean top. She was out of t-shirts, so she pulled on an old button-up that was soft from so much wear. She rolled up the sleeves as she walked out to her car. The gas tank was full, and her phone was sitting in the cup holder. It's batter was low, but it still held the directions to the house in Bon Temps. Cameron pulled out of the driveway, but didn't turn on her lights until she was at the end of the street. From there on, she sped out of town and down the highway. She had to go slower on the county roads.

She was a bit spooked by how much darker the small town was, and cursed their lack of adequate street lighting. The town of Bon Temps was typical Louisiana small town. The house she was looking for was outside of town, taking Cameron down an even spookier road.

IT was lined with large trees, their limbs covered in Spanish moss. Through the trees, Cameron could see a body of water that she assumed was filled with water moccasins and gators. Further down the road, Cameron passed an ancient looking cemetery. Beyond that was an old plantation-style house that had also been recently renovated on a large plot of land. It wasn't the house Cameron was looking for. It looked nothing like it.

She turned her attention from that house just in time to realize that she had driven by a gravel drive way. Cameron stomped on her brakes and looked in her rearview mirror to read the number off the side of the mailbox.

The numbers matched the address on the sheet of paper and her phone. Cameron threw her car into reverse to go back to the driveway. However, she stopped short of pulling into it.

What the hell was she going to say when she got there? What was she going to do? She couldn't just knock on the door and ask if they had seen Eric, could she? She didn't even know who would answer the door.

Cameron noticed that painted on the side of the mailbox, right above the numbers, someone had painted the name "Stackhouse". The paint was a bid faded and chipped, and the side of the mailbox was slightly dented. Cameron's gaze traveled from the mailbox, up the drive way, and to the house. It was up on a slight hill, at the end of a large lawn, surrounded by trees. The house was lit up. Someone was obviously home, and she hoped that the someone could help her.

* * *

><p>"The Ghost Who Walks" by Karen Elson<p>

"Wading Deep Waters" by Crooked Still

Check my profile page for links to mixes with all of the songs I post in my stories. I have Part I up and Part II will be up later tonight. Also, is anyone on tumblr? My url is there, too.


	26. Until We Bleed

I'm so sorry this took me literally forever! I had a few family crises, a crises of my own, and then a bad reaction to a new medication. And then my second summer class started last week.

To make up for the long delay, here's a super long chapter! This is the moment we have all been waiting for.

OH and the new episode! I swear if they actually killed of Roman, someone is going to pay dearly. And if Salome or Nora released Russell and then get punished for it, I will be so pissed. Those two are the lights of my life.

* * *

><p>Cameron truly had no idea what she was doing. She couldn't just go up to the house and knock on the door at nearly 3 in the morning, asking if they had seen an ancient vampire running around. Even worse, what if whoever answered the door wasn't friendly or sympathetic? Cameron had no idea what she was about to walk into, which was utterly terrifying. She wasn't usually one to do anything without considering all of the factors.<p>

At the very least, she had been in the house before. If something did go horribly wrong, she at least knew her way around the place.

It briefly crossed her mind that maybe Eric didn't want to be found, or that he might not even be missing or in trouble. But the weight in the pit of Cameron's stomach told her that something _was_ wrong.

Even if Eric did need help, and he was in that house, what was Cameron going to do? She had no gun or physical strength. How could she expect to rescue and protect a vampire? She wasn't even particularly clever. All she had in her tool belt was being a fast runner, and she hadn't even trained for over a year. God knew how slow she was now.

Finally, Cameron chickened out and backed out of the driveway. She at least knew now where Eric was. Well, not for sure. But she had a feeling that he was in there. She could go find Pam, or some vampire friends of Eric's to help save him. Did he even have vampire friends? Cameron remembered meeting the vampire king and wondered if he could offer any sort of help.

But knowing Eric, he wouldn't want anyone's help, and he wouldn't want anyone knowing that he was in a vulnerable position.

As Cameron slowly drove onward, she hoped that Pam would be enough.

Driving down the dark and rural road was unnerving and incredibly spooky. Cameron was expecting vampires and all sorts of monsters jumping out into her headlights. As the wind picked up, fallen leaves swirled into the road, the movement making Cameron jump out of her skin every time. To say she was jumpy would be an understatement.

It seemed as if Cameron's worst fears came true as she noticed a lone figure up the road a ways. The figure was walking slowly along the side of the road. As she got closer, Cameron noticed that he was missing his shirt and shoes, and looked disheveled. She knew better than to stop. As she pressed down on the gas to speed past the man, she realized with horror that her car was slowly coming to a stop alongside the man. When the window started rolling down on its own, Cameron cried out, but she made no sound.

Looking around, Cameron realized that she wasn't even in her car. It was small, dirty, beaten up, and old. Looking up from the dash, she realized that the man on the side of the road was now standing at her window. Though, she was no longer frightened. The man was Eric. He was speaking, though Cameron couldn't hear him. Everything sounded as if she was under water.

Although the man was definitely Eric, he seemed off. Apart from walking down the road with no shoes or shirt, and messed up hair, something about the situation seemed so wrong.

Suddenly a dark look flashed across Eric's face and his fangs dropped. He took a step towards the car, but before he could reach it, Cameron was speeding away.

Cameron's mind shifted out of the vision as she was thrown around the inside of her car. She immediately pulled her foot of the gas pedal and braked hard, missing hitting a tree by only a few inches. Towards the end of the vision, Cameron's car drove off the road.

As she sat in her car, clutching her chest and breathing hard, all Cameron could focus on was Eric's face. She felt like she had seen him in a similar state in past visions. She leaned back into her seat, putting her head back against the seat, and took in a deep breath. She had to help Eric now.

Before she could back out again, Cameron pulled back onto the road, turned around, and sped back toward the Stackhouse home. She didn't even pause at the start of the driveway this time. She drove straight up to the house, parked on the grass, and hastily ran up the porch steps.

She was fueled purely by her loyalty to Eric. Up until this point, she had no idea how deeply that loyalty ran. Now, she was realizing how frighteningly much she cared about him and his wellbeing.

Cameron knocked loudly on the door, waiting for someone to answer it, not even concerned about waking someone up.

After only a few seconds, she could hear footsteps coming toward the door, and soon enough, a short blond woman came to the door. She peered out through the window curiously at Cameron, and cautiously opened the door.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked suspiciously, words dripping with a thick drawl. She noticed Cameron trying to look beyond her and into the house, and closed the door slightly, blocking Cameron's view of the interior of the house.

"Do you live here?" Cameron asked, focus back on the woman.

"Yeah," the woman answered slowly, eyes narrowed in concern. The thought that legally this house belonged to Eric crossed Cameron's mind.

"I know this is probably really weird, getting some stranger knocking on your door so late," Cameron started.

"I'm no stranger to weird," the woman interrupted her.

"Ok, well, I'm looking for someone," Cameron continued. The woman stared at Cameron quizzically, but remained silent. "And I think you can help me. I'm pretty sure you guys were friends. Or maybe not, I don't know."

"Who are you?" the woman asked quickly, cutting off Cameron's nervous rambling.

"Uh, my name's Cameron. I'm looking for my friend."

"You're not a vampire, are you?" the woman asked, ignoring Cameron's introduction. Cameron confusedly shook her head. Both women's attention snapped to the interior of the house at the sound of a creaking floorboard. The woman turned her attention away from Cameron to whoever had made the noise. "Go back upstairs!" she ordered. The door blocked this person from view.

"Who is it?" the person the woman had yelled at asked. Cameron was absolutely positive that the voice belonged to Eric.

The woman yelled at him again, and then turned her attention back to Cameron. "I'm sorry, I can't help you. Bye," she said quickly. She shut the door quickly, leaving Cameron out on the porch alone.

She listened as hard as she could. She could hear the two walking away from the door, but not their voices. However, she never heard the 'click' of a lock.

Throwing caution to the wind, Cameron grasped the door handle and turned it, letting herself inside the house quietly. She stepped carefully and closed the door softly. She was quiet enough to avoid detection from a human, but she knew Eric would have heard her.

Before taking three steps into the house, Cameron was thrown on her back onto the floor, a knee in her stomach and a hand wrapped around her throat. Like she had expected, Eric had heard her enter the home.

The woman was yelling and Eric was snarling, but Cameron tuned them both out as she tried desperately gasping for air.

The woman knelt down next to Cameron's head and tried prying Eric's fingers from around her neck. Having Eric's hand at her throat was an experience that she hoped she would never have to experience ever again, and it was just as terrifying as the first time it happened.

The woman succeeded in getting Eric to let go of her neck, though he remained on top of her. Knee in her stomach, hands pressing her shoulders into the floor with a bruising strength. His fangs were out, and he looked ready to kill.

As Cameron finally found her breathing again, her hands found their way to Eric's chest.

"Get the fuck off me, Eric!" Cameron yelled as she earnestly tried to push him off. Eric's grip slackened a bit at the mention of his name, and the woman let out a surprised "what."

Cameron continued to struggle under Eric, though her efforts moved from his chest to trying to ease his knee away from her stomach.

"You know him?" the woman asked Cameron.

"I swear to god, Eric!" Cameron yelled as Eric pressed his knee harder into her stomach. He continued to look down at her in utter confusion, until finally he eased up, removed himself from on top of her, and sat down on the floor next to the woman.

Cameron instantly rolled onto her side, clutching at her stomach, her legs curling into her.

"He didn't hurt you too bad, did he?" the woman asked, concerned that Eric had actually hurt her. She was no stranger to being manhandled by vampires.

"I'm good," Cameron muttered as she rolled onto her hands and knees.

"I'm sorry," Eric said, sounding surprisingly and sincerely apologetic. Caught off guard and unsure of how to respond, Cameron only managed a half-hearted smile. Something seemed incredibly off about the entire situation.

As she eased back into a sitting position on the floor, she looked Eric over. His hair was a far cry from his usually perfect coiffure. What was even more shocking was his state of dress. He was wearing large basketball shorts and a cut up, ratty looking hooded sweatshirt. He really must have been in trouble.

"So, uh, why are you here? You obviously know him," the woman spared a concerned glance toward Eric.

"Uh, yes. I've been looking for him." The woman gave Cameron another suspicious look and she decided that it was about time things got cleared up. The more she thought about it, the more Cameron realized that this woman was who Eric was looking for.

"What for?" the woman asked.

"I'm sorry; I don't know your name. I'm Cameron Clarke. Eric's my friend, boss, tormentor, business associate, thorn in my side, all of the above," Cameron explained.

"Oh, right, sorry. I'm Sookie." The two women shook hands awkwardly after standing up. Eric looked confusedly between the two.

"What, you don't have any sassy remarks?" Cameron turned to Eric, surprised that he had been so quiet. All he did was shrug and continue to look confused.

"Was I mean to you?" he asked, seemingly genuinely concerned that he had hurt Cameron in the past.

"Eric's not really feelin' like himself lately. If ya want, I can call you later," Sookie offered, still trying to get rid of Cameron.

"Look, I'm not leaving without Eric."

"Well, I'm not lettin' you take him," Sookie crossed her arms defensively. Cameron noted with smug satisfaction that she was slightly taller than this other woman. For once, she could look down on someone the way Eric sometimes looked down on her, though she doubted she was even half as intimidating as he was.

"I know for a fact that he is not supposed to be here," Cameron said, lying through her teeth. She didn't know anything for sure.

"Is that right?" Sookie challenged. Cameron held her ground and nodded.

"Pam said I have to stay," Eric interjected. Cameron snapped her head towards Eric in surprise.

"Pam? Pam knows you're here?" Cameron demanded, infuriated that she was being kept out of the loop.

"You know Pam?" Sookie asked.

"No wonder she left so suddenly last night," Cameron thought out loud. "Hey, did you pick him up on the side of the road?" Cameron asked Sookie, suddenly getting an idea.

"Uh, yeah. How did you know that?" Sookie asked defensively.

"Oh, just something I heard," Cameron answered vaguely.

"You smell kinda good," Eric muttered, lifting a hand towards Cameron's hair. Sookie watched curiously as he wound Cameron's hair between his fingers. As Eric dragged his hand through the length of Cameron's hair, he noticed faint scaring on her neck. He pushed her hair over her shoulder and pressed his thumb against the old, now healed bite wounds.

"Did I do this?" Eric asked, visibly concerned.

"Uh, yeah," Cameron answered, more and more confused by Eric's actions.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"OK, what the fuck is wrong with you? I didn't think you knew the meaning of the word "sorry." What the hell did you do to him?" Cameron grabbed Eric's wrist, pulling his hand from her hair and neck, and shot a dirty look at Sookie.

"Me? I didn't do anythin'! I'm just hiding him here," Sookie explained.

"From what?" Sookie shrugged, indicating that she didn't have any idea, though Cameron could tell that she was lying.

"Seriously, did you put some sort of spell on him?" Cameron accused. It had been a ridiculous thing to say, and she didn't actually think that that had been the case. However, the look on Sookie's face told Cameron that she had hit the nail on the head.

"Oh fuck me, there's witches?" Cameron cried out, infuriated and confused by the whole situation. Nothing was making sense. Eric was no help. His hand kept straying to her hair, and all he offered was a stupid look on his face. He was acting like a child.

"I didn't do this to him, but I don't really know who did. I'm just keeping him here until someone figures out how to fix this," Sookie said.

"Why isn't he with Pam? Don't you think she would be better equipped to handle him?" Cameron asked, comparing Sookie's short stature to Eric's tall frame.

"Pam thinks he's not safe in this vulnerable state, and that this will give Bill a good enough reason to kill him," she answered.

"Bill?"

"The vampire king. My ex. Eric's rival. The list goes on."

"Oh, right. I nearly threw up on him once," Cameron remembered the night she had met him at Fangtasia. Sookie giggled at the thought of this strange girl throwing up on Bill in one of his fancy king suits.

"Well, do you want help watching him or something?" Cameron awkwardly offered. Now that she knew what had happened to Eric, she felt like she couldn't just leave him again. He seemed to be safe, but Cameron was hardly a good judge of safety. She didn't know how well they could trust Sookie, and now that Eric's life was being threatened, she felt like she needed to make sure that he was going to be OK.

Losing Eric would mean a lot of things for Cameron. The thing that she should have probably been most worried about was her safety. If Eric went down, then so did any form of protection. Eric was selfish, which meant keeping Cameron all to himself. Her power guaranteed her safety with him.

She didn't even want to start considering how he actually felt about her. She knew how she felt about him. Well, sort of. But Cameron didn't want to know how Eric really felt about her, apart from recognizing her importance and usefulness. Cameron couldn't even picture Eric having a feeling, apart from hunger and lust.

Cameron had two conflicting ideas of Eric. The first being a rigid, threatening, powerful force who would not take no for an answer. This version of Eric was cold-hearted and selfish, not giving a damn about how his actions affected others, so long as he benefited. This Eric did what was best for Eric. Violence was usually the answer. The end always justified the means. Sometimes these actions would work out in the favor of others, but these instances were just a happy accident.

Then there was the less known Eric. The Eric that Cameron preferred. He was conscientious of others, though he usually tried to hide it. He had a sense of humor. He could actually be quite easy to get along with.

Cameron realized that these were two extreme ends of the spectrum, though. No matter which end he was channeling, however, he was always undeniably Eric.

The Eric that was standing next to Cameron in Sookie's foyer was a version that Cameron had never witnessed, or even imagined existed. It was like standing next to a complete stranger.

"Some coven of witches put a spell on him that erased his memory, so he's not really himself. I gotta keep a pretty keen eye on him," Sookie explained.

"When was the last time he fed?" Cameron asked.

"Well, he had some TruBlood," Sookie lied, not wanting to mention anything about Eric killing someone in her front yard. She worried that Eric would correct her, but he was too interested in Cameron's hair to care about anything else.

"You have pretty hair," Eric muttered.

"I'm not used to him being so affectionate," Cameron said, unnerved by this new Eric. All of his attention was making her uncomfortable.

"No kidding. Do ya want anythin' to drink or somethin'?" Sookie offered. Cameron asked for a glass of water, and followed Sookie into the kitchen. Eric trailed behind them.

Sookie offered Cameron a seat at the table, and sat down across from her. Cameron tried desperately to not look at the floor, remembering her vision of the puddles of blood.

"I should probably text Pam. I broke into Eric's office and she's gonna be pissed," Cameron said as she pulled out her phone.

"So you're pretty involved with Eric and Pam?" Sookie asked, trying to figure out just how exactly Cameron fit into the picture.

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm technically his employee, but he definitely doesn't treat me like one."

"What do you do?" Sookie asked, expecting the worst.

"Marketing and stuff for Fangtasia. I just finished the new website. But I think sometimes Eric thinks I'm his personal assistant. He shows up at my place all the time."

"I do?" Eric asked. He was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, just watching the two women talk.

"Yeah. But I usually make you help me with some sort of chore. So don't worry, we're even," Cameron smiled fakely, completely confused about how to act around him. She realized that the way she was talking to him was pretty similar to the way she spoke to Jackson and small children in general.

Eric nodded, seemingly content with her reply.

"He does chores for you?" Sookie questioned, a bit incredulous.

"Well, not voluntarily. And he always complains about it, but he does them anyway. When I first started working for him, I thought he was going to rip my head off, but we're pretty amicable now."

"You guys didn't… you know," Sookie asked, alluding to what she secretly dreaded finding out about. She knew it was reasonable for Eric to have sex with whoever he wanted. She had been gone for a year, and of course he had sex. He probably had sex a lot.

Cameron's face instantly reddened.

"No way! We did?" Eric was at Cameron's side in an instant, a grin on his face.

"Oh," was all Sookie could manage.

"Can we do it again?" Eric asked Cameron.

"No!" Cameron shouted, scandalized. The blunt refusal visibly hurt Eric's pride, though he backed down.

"I'm sorry," Sookie apologized for even bringing the subject up. But she found that she wanted to know more about Cameron and Eric's relationship. What was so special about Cameron? Eric wouldn't hire just anybody, not unless there was something special about them. Which would at least explain one thing to Sookie…

"I gotta ask you something," Sookie started. She waited for Cameron to nod in approval before she started again. "Is there somethin' different about you? Because I can't hear your thoughts at all."

Cameron knew that Sookie was a telepath, because of what Eric had told her in the past. But for some reason, she hadn't even thought of it until Sookie mentioned it. She was surprised to hear that Sookie couldn't hear her thoughts, though.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean usually with other people, I can hear their thoughts. It's like I'm in their head. With vampires, it's like I'm a normal person and I have no idea what's goin' on inside their heads. It's the same with you. I can't hear a thing," Sookie explained. All Cameron could offer was a shrug. She knew better than to advertise to people that she was different. Although sometimes it didn't exactly seem like it, she had a sense of self preservation. The less people that knew about her, the better.

Even though Sookie was different, too, Cameron didn't feel comfortable telling her. If her secret was going to be safe with anyone, it probably would have been Sookie. But they had just met, and Cameron wasn't comfortable with the idea. She was so used to hiding what she was and pretending that she was 100% normal. She was used to the silence, and that was going to be a hard habit to break.

After a few beats of silence, Sookie looked up at the clock on the wall.

"It's gettin' pretty late," she said, trying to prompt some sort of action from Cameron. Although, all she did in response was nod in agreement. Cameron wasn't going anywhere.

"Do you live nearby?" Sookie asked.

"I live in Shreveport," Cameron answered.

"Well, I guess you better be on your way if you're gonna get back before sunrise," Sookie said, standing from the table. Both Eric and Cameron looked at her confusedly.

"You're not staying?" Eric asked, directing his attention towards Cameron. He didn't know who she was, but he liked her and he wanted her to stay.

"I thought I would at least stay until morning. I know this is weird and we don't know each other, but I know Eric. And I can't just leave him," Cameron told Sookie. In all honesty, she didn't know how safe Eric was with this woman. Not that she could offer much better protection.

Sookie wasn't sure what to say. She barely knew this woman. She seemed nice enough, but she learned a long time ago that you can't always be so quick to judge. Plus, she wasn't exactly comfortable having a strange woman stay in her house. She also didn't want to play hostess to anyone else. She originally didn't even want Eric staying in her house.

"I know it's a lot to ask."

"Uh, yeah," Sookie agreed.

"As soon as he goes to bed, or whatever, I'll leave. I promise," Cameron pledged.

"I don't want any trouble."

"And you won't get any."

Sookie sighed in defeat. Cameron seemed trustworthy enough. And if she tried anything, Eric would still be there. He may have lost his memory, but he was still a powerful vampire that could easily defend himself and Sookie if need be.

And if she was being honest, Sookie really wanted to find out more about Cameron. Specifically, she wanted to find out why she couldn't read her mind. If she closed her eyes, Sookie wouldn't even know that she was there. In her entire life, the only minds she had never been able to read were those of vampires, and Cameron was definitely not a vampire. In fact, she seemed like any normal human.

The rest of the night was spent in Sookie's living room. The three watched TV together, with Sookie and Cameron occasionally trying to make awkward conversation during the commercial breaks.

When the sun finally started to rise, Sookie herded Eric towards his underground bunker built into the house.

"Are you coming back?" he asked Cameron, ignoring Sookie's demands to go to bed. Both Sookie and Cameron were mildly surprised by his hopeful tone.

"If Sookie lets me," Cameron answered, leaving the burden on Sookie. Eric looked down at her expectantly, pressuring her to let Cameron come back. It didn't take long until she sighed in defeat and muttered a "yeah."

Eric smiled at the answer, then went down into his hole without another word. Sookie then locked up the cabinet doors.

"I guess if you want to, you can come back and visit him or somethin'," Sookie told Cameron. She wasn't exactly fond of the idea of Cameron hanging around all the time.

Ignoring her less than excited tone, Cameron smiled broadly, thanked her, and bid her farewell.

It wasn't until she was in her car that she remembered that she snuck out of the house when she was supposed to be on bed rest. There was no way that she would make it back to the house in time before Melanie woke up. As she drove out of Bon Temps, Cameron predicted that a huge fight would be waiting for her at home.

Despite that, Cameron was extremely happy that she had found Eric. She was even happier that he was more or less safe. He wasn't exactly himself, but he wasn't hurt, at least.

It at least seemed as though there was hope for gaining back his memory. As sweet and childlike as this new Eric was, Cameron found herself missing the old Eric. She actually missed his stoicism and dark humor. She missed the looks he would give her. She didn't exactly miss the threats on her life, but those days had been over for a while, anyways.

Even though she could tell that Sookie didn't want her around, nothing would be able to keep Cameron away. She had long ago deduced that Eric and Sookie had some sort of past together, though she had no clue on the details of their relationship. But that was in the past. Sookie had disappeared for a year, leaving Eric behind. She lost her chance.

It was then that Cameron realized, with quite a bit of horror, that she was jealous.

* * *

><p>"Until We Bleed" by Lykky Li<p> 


	27. Run Me Down

Words cannot describe how sorry I am for taking so long to update. I have been so busy with the start of school and life in general. I haven't even finished season 5 yet. IS BILL STILL BEING A LITTLE BITCH? Sad about Salome. I love her so much, why did she have to be craycray? Glad Nora is back, she's the . Molly was cool, too, and I'm sad she had to die. Oh well. At least this Ifrit bullshit is over with. TOO MANY STORY LINES.

Anyway, how are all of you lovely people? It's been a while. I'm trying super hard to wrap this up. I really don't want to hit the one year anniversary marker, which will be in two months.

* * *

><p>By the time Cameron got back home from Sookie's house, it was just about 7:30. As she sneaked inside the house and back up to the guest bedroom, she realized with joy that Melanie had yet to wake up. So she crept back into her bed and fell asleep quickly after having been up all night.<p>

Cameron didn't get to sleep for very long, though. Melanie came into the bedroom just after 10, and opened the curtains to let in the morning sun.

"How ya feeling?" she asked her younger sister quietly. Cameron groaned and begged to be left alone. Not wanting to stress out her sister, Melanie left the room to let Cameron go back to sleep. She cursed when she realized that the curtains had been left open, but she was far too tired to get up, so she pulled the comforter over her head and went back to sleep.

Cameron awoke again, and for the final time, at 5. Melanie wanted to bring dinner to her, but Cameron insisted that she was fine and ate dinner with her and Jackson. Throughout the entire meal, Cameron dreaded Melanie asking her why she collapsed in a gas station outside of Shreveport. Melanie was surprisingly quiet, presumably to keep from stressing out Cameron. She was walking on eggshells, but Cameron didn't mind so long as it meant that she was left alone.

As soon as she could, Cameron went back to her apartment. She took an incredibly long shower, then waited with Bo for the sun to set. The pair curled up together on top of Cameron's bed.

All she could think about was Eric. Or rather, what had happened to him. How had he come into contact with witches? They were obviously not good witches if they had taken his memory away from him. She wondered if the curse was self defense or something sinister. Knowing Eric, he actually probably deserved it. He didn't know how to make good first impressions. It was always threaten first, then find out the best way to manipulate the victim to get what he wanted.

If Eric's encounter with the witches had been anything like Cameron's first encounter with Eric, he probably physically threatened someone.

When vampires first revealed themselves, Cameron was ambivalent. She didn't really have an opinion. For a good long while, she almost didn't believe it. But once she saw enough of them on the news and TV, it became more real. She wondered how many she had met before the revelation, without knowing what they were. There was a good possibility.

So how many people were witches? Or are they even real witches? Cameron thought about the "witches" that ran hoaky voodoo shops in New Orleans to draw in tourists, or the weird girl in high school who went through a Wiccan phase when Buffy was popular.

But whoever had taken Eric's memory was obviously a real witch, not someone who bought a book at a commercial bookstore with cash borrowed from mom or earned from babysitting the neighbor's kids. It probably wasn't a woman walking around Salem in stereotypical Halloween witch makeup, either. Whoever had cursed Eric was for real.

As she waited for it to get dark, Cameron wondered just how many other supernatural creatures were real. Nobody thought vampires were real, yet just over two years ago everyone was proved wrong. Nobody ever believed that psychics were real, and that they just preyed on the naïve and gullible. Yet Cameron was a living contradiction of that. Eric had even said that he had known others like her. And just last night, Sookie told Cameron that she could read minds.

Cameron wondered what Sookie was that would give her that sort of power. She had made it sound like it wasn't something that could be turned off, which seemed like it would be quite the burden. Cameron could barely handle her own thoughts sometimes, let alone someone else's.

But the mind reading at least explained Sookie's connection to Eric. He liked having the upper hand. What could be more handy than a mind reader? Cameron had always known what she was to Eric. Somehow, somewhere along the way, they had formed some kind of bond. Though, Cameron was hesitant to define that bond. She definitely didn't love him, but she definitely cared about him. She was, without a doubt, totally attracted to him. She liked his physical company, and she liked his personality when he was being nice.

If her interaction with Eric the night before had been any indication, he was definitely attracted to her, too. He had propositioned her for sex, and was delighted to know that they had already done it. He couldn't keep his hands out of her hair, and he was never far from her side.

It was weird.

But endearing in a weird way.

As interesting as Eric's new personality was, it wasn't him. She could probably very easily prevent any sort of reversal of the spell. She didn't even know how much was being done to help Eric get back to his old self. But that would have been selfish. Only Eric was allowed to be selfish.

The sun was below the horizon, but it was still relatively light out by the time Cameron pulled Bo off of her stomach and stood up. She switched out her old tank top of Melanie's from her freshman rush for an oversized charcoal colored sweater. She pulled on jeans and put on her shoes. She didn't bother with drying her hair or putting on makeup. She had looked like crap the night before, and Eric still fawned over her (which was totally weird). She wasn't trying to impress anyone.

Cameron left some food out for Bo and left without telling Melanie where she was going.

She still remembered the way to Sookie's house. This time, she pulled up the driveway without any hesitation. By the time she got there, it was completely dark.

As she stepped out of her car and walked through the grass to the front door, Eric opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.

"You came back," he said, smiling.

"I told you I would," Cameron answered. Eric smiled at her as she climbed the steps and followed him inside Sookie's house. He lead her into the kitchen where Sookie was scrubbing at some pans.

"Oh, you're back," she said, looking up from the sink. She seemed mildly surprised, but not incredibly happy.

"I said I would be," Cameron answered. "Has he been behaving himself?" she asked, gesturing towards Eric who was standing awkwardly across the kitchen. Cameron never thought that "awkward" would be a good word to describe Eric, but this time it fit. She couldn't wait for the curse to be lifted.

"He ran off today, but I got him back. He's fine," Sookie said.

"It's not even 9," Cameron said, double checking the clock on the wall.

"It was earlier this mornin'," Sookie clarified.

"In the sun?"

"Yeah, but he was fine. He went swimming for a while, until the sun started to burn him. He's fine now."

"How?" Cameron was incredulous. She had no idea that vampires could do that. She always thought that burning in the sun was instantaneous.

"He drained a fairy."

"Like Tinkerbell?" Cameron couldn't believe that Sookie was saying the word "fairy". It sounded stupid. Though, she really shouldn't have been surprised at all.

"No, we're normal sized. He drained my fairy godmother. Fairy blood is to vampires as V is to humans, I guess," Sookie explained. Cameron eyed her warily. It sounded ridiculous, but she didn't question it. And then she realized that Sookie said "we."

"So does that mean you're one, too?" she asked.

"Just part."

"Did Eric know?"

"Yup," Sookie answered succinctly. Cameron decided not to ask any more questions. Getting involved with vampires had caused enough trouble; she didn't want to get wrapped up in some sort of fairy business. She figured that the less she knew, at least in this respect, the better off she would be.

"I didn't know it was her fairy godmother," Eric told Cameron, defending himself. All she could offer was a sympathetic smile and a pat on the shoulder, which seemed to appease him.

"I'm sure you've done worse," Cameron added as an afterthought. Sookie nodded in agreement, but Eric seemed hurt, or at least troubled. Cameron was having difficulty deciphering Eric's emotions. She wasn't used to this raw version of him. She was used to sarcasm, threats, and seduction.

"Can I help you with anything?" Cameron turned back to Sookie, awkwardly looking for something to occupy herself with, besides watching Eric stare back at her.

"Can you just keep an eye on him?" Sookie answered. Cameron sighed, and turned back to Eric.

"Let's go watch TV or something. If you don't behave, I'll smack the shit out of you," She warned him. A playful grin swept across Eric's face, which seemed to be infections because Cameron was grinning right back at him as they left the kitchen, leaving Sookie a little shocked.

"Is that a threat?" Eric taunted as he trailed after Cameron.

"It's a promise. And not a sexy promise."

"Could it be?" He pushed, his face set in a lewd smirk.

Instead of rewarding him with some sort of retort, Cameron shot him a dirty look over her shoulder.

The pair sat down together on Sookie's couch, and Cameron turned on the TV.

"What do vampires like to watch?" Cameron asked Eric, flipping through the channels at a fast pace.

"What do you like to watch?" he asked back, scooting closer to her. Without thinking, Cameron pulled her legs up onto the couch, creating a barrier between herself and Eric. Normally she probably wouldn't have done that. Normally she would have probably liked to cuddle up on the couch with Eric and watch TV. But this wasn't a normal situation (not that any situation with Eric ever was). HE wasn't himself, and she wasn't going to take advantage of that.

"I usually go for the trash TV. Do you know who the Kardashians are?" Cameron answered his question, pretending to not notice his advances. His arm had wound up resting along the back of the couch, his hand near her hair again.

"Are they important?"

"Not at all. How about some Real Housewives?" Cameron tried not to flinch when she felt Eric's fingertips brush against her hair. She did her best to not react as she continued flipping through the channels, but Eric's hand was getting increasingly more aggressive. Before long, he was running his hand through the length of her hair at an agonizingly slow pace.

Cameron bit her lip in an attempt to distract herself. Of course it felt good. It was exciting, and had Eric been himself, she probably would have made a move by now. But she had to keep reminding herself that this wasn't her Eric. She had to make the distinction once and for all.

Just as Eric started gently massaging the back of Cameron's neck with his fingertips, she forced herself to draw the line, and was on her feet in a second. Eric's eyes followed her curiously, as she walked around the couch to separate herself from him.

She rubbed her face with both hands, then roughly smoothed back her hair as she walked out of the room.

Grasping her hands together at the back of her neck, Cameron sucked in a deep breath in an effort to strengthen her resolve. She focused on her breathing as she stood in the entry way of Sookie's house.

Eric had followed her, and stepped into her line of sight.

"Am I bothering you?" he asked.

Cameron shook her head, but avoided looking at him.

"I'm gonna go outside for a sec," Cameron mumbled, then moved past Eric and walked out the front door. She jumped down the porch steps and walked quickly to her car. For what, she didn't know. She just needed a distraction, something to busy herself with.

Fishing the keys from her pocket and unlocking her Jeep, Cameron cursed, realizing how stupid she was acting. She must have seemed so weird. But it didn't matter. This wasn't even the real Eric. He would get his memory back and be back to normal. When that happened, he would probably be secretly grateful that she still respected him.

As she pretended to look for something in the backseat of her car, Cameron wondered when she started respecting Eric. She supposed she had for a while, but had never made a conscious decision about it until that moment. Some of his practices were Medieval at best, but he had certainly been a good ally to her. She was going to return the favor.

As she collected bits of trash from the floor of her car, Cameron wondered if Eric would remember his time without a memory. Would he remember how forward he was being? Would he remember how she tried to take care of him? Would he even appreciate it if he did?

Cameron knew that he probably would appreciate it, but she doubted that he would show it. Whatever she could do to prove to him that she was trustworthy and useful would be worth it. Eric was a good person to have in your corner. Plus it was the right thing to do.

"What are you doing?" Eric asked. Cameron looked up from her useless task to see him pressing his face against the glass to peer inside her messy car. She figured that he would follow her, so his appearance didn't come as a surprise.

"Cleaning."

"Do you need help?" he asked. Without saying a word, Cameron grabbed Eric's wrists, and positioned his arms so that he held both hands out. She then took a discarded shopping bag and looped the handles over his hands. As she started shoving trash into the bag Eric was holding, he caught on, and tightened his grip on the bag as she forced more trash into it.

"Do you not clean your car very often?"

"Look, we gotta set up some ground rules here. I don't know how long this is going to take, and until we fix you, I'm laying down the law," Cameron said, ignoring Eric's question. She suddenly had no patience for small talk, no matter how rare that was for Eric.

"I said I was sorry for killing Snookie's fairy god mother," he said, not sounding the least bit apologetic.

"No, I don't care about that. I mean, it was bad, don't do it again. But that's not what I'm talking about. Take that up with Sookie. I'm talking about you and me," Cameron corrected him.

"Is there a you and me?"

"No. Well… no. We're friends. We work together. I think we used to be, but that can't happen anymore."

"Why not?"

"I'm not going to take advantage of this situation. You're not you, and I'm not going to kid myself into thinking otherwise," Cameron explained.

"Why not?" Eric repeated, though his tone was noticeably different.

"This isn't permanent. Things are going to go back to normal." Cameron didn't exactly know how to describe that normal, so she left it at that, hoping that Eric wouldn't ask any more questions. She was having a hard time explaining herself.

"What was normal?" He asked, as Cameron anticipated.

"I was a means to an end. Sookie is the end." Cameron turned away from Eric, pretending to look for more trash. There wasn't any, so she ended up just picking at an old stain to keep herself busy.

"I'm sorry," Eric stated. His tone indicated that there wasn't any question to it. Even without his memory, he could still read her easily.

"No, stop that. The real you wouldn't be sorry," Cameron spun around to face him, a sudden feeling of anger sweeping through her.

"Why do you keep saying stuff like that? I don't know who the real me is. This is me now, and I'm sorry for everything I've done to you. You're too good to be used," Eric said, dropping the bag of trash on the ground. Some old receipts and food wrappers rolled out and were carried across Sookie's yard by the wind.

"I don't know if I'll get my memories back, but I don't want them." Eric added after a moment of thought.

"Don't say that," Cameron warned.

"I was mean to you."

"You were mean to everyone. It's who you are," Cameron argued.

"Not anymore. You deserve to be treated nicely."

"No!" Cameron shouted, pushing her way past Eric and slamming her car door shut. "This isn't going to happen! No matter how much I love you, this is not going to happen! I can't let it happen!"

Cameron stomped around to the driver's side of the car as she shouted, eager to put distance between herself and Eric. She pressed her forehead against the window and tried to get control over her breathing. She then realized what exactly she had said.

"Fuck, I don't love you. Not like that. I mean I care about you and you're twistedly my best friend in this fucking state, but I am not in love with you. There's a difference," Cameron found a second wind to hastily explain what she meant as she came back around the car to face Eric again. He watched her confusedly as she did so. It didn't seem like he knew how to answer. He was about as confused as she was.

"Are we together?" Eric asked.

"Hey, are y'all ok out there?" Sookie yelled from the porch. Both Eric and Cameron looked across the yard at her and nodded, Cameron giving her a quick thumbs up. Sookie eyed them for a minute, then went back inside the house.

"No," Cameron answered as soon as Sookie was gone, her tone much more harsh than she intended. It was for the best, though. Boundaries needed to be established.

"Have you ever seen us together? In your visions?"

To busy herself, Cameron opened the trunk and started rummaging around. There wasn't much to occupy her. Just some old workout clothes, extra shoes, a soccer ball, and a beach towel. She grabbed at the towel and clothes and started folding them.

"No." she answered simply. "Well, I've seen us like, physically together. You know, having sex, or something. But that's it," she amended.

"Any recent visions like that?" he stepped toward her and rested a hand on the frame of the car, watching Cameron fold the clothes.

"Let's not talk about this," Cameron warned. She snatched up a shirt, jostling the soccer ball and causing it to roll out of the car and onto the ground.

"You're really pretty, you know. You smell nice, too. If you wanted to be together, it would make me happy," Eric said. Cameron was worried he would try to reach for her hair again. She cold just imagine the seductive smirk on his face.

When she looked up at him, she was surprised to see an expression she was not at all familiar with, especially coming from Eric. He looked sincere and genuinely interested in her. He looked like he cared.

Eric shifted his weight and angled his body to face her, lifting his hand from the frame of the car. He was moving in for the kill. Before he could get any closer, Cameron screamed.

She didn't know why, but she was frustrated. It came out before she could even realize what she was doing. She screamed and turned away from Eric. She kicked the soccer ball as hard as she could and watched as it soared across the lawn and barreled through some tree branches, where it fell and hit the ground, bringing down a shower of leaves and broken branches with it.

Cameron chanced a glance at Eric to gauge his reaction. He was looking out across the lawn, to where the ball had landed, with a mildly surprised expression. He clearly hadn't been expecting her outburst, and he didn't seem to be sure how to respond.

"What's going on?" Sookie yelled, emerging from the house. She rushed out onto the porch, and down the steps. She was searching the yard for any sign of something to warrant Cameron's screaming. Her gaze finally settled on Eric, and she took on an accusatory expression, sure that Eric had caused the reaction.

"Nothing, we're fine," Cameron answered shortly.

"Well, your phone was ringin' like crazy. I found it in between the couch cushions," Sookie said, walking up to the pair and handing Cameron the phone that Eric had bought for her. As Cameron checked her missed calls, Sookie grilled Eric, asking what he had done wrong.

He defended himself as Cameron scanned through five missed calls and two voicemails, all from Melanie. Rolling her eyes, Cameron pocketed her phone. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Melanie.

"He didn't do anything, I'm just mentally unstable," Cameron interrupted Sookie's interrogation of Eric. Sookie eyed her warily and Eric looked grateful.

"Who's been tyrin' to reach you?" Sookie asked her.

"My siser. She's kind of a control freak," Cameron shrugged.

"Oh, is she like you?" Sookie was curious about Cameron's personal life and background. She was interested to see if their families had any similarities. She didn't exactly know how clairvoyance worked, but she wondered if it was anything like fairies.

"She has no idea about any of this," Cameron answered, a slight edge to her voice. Melanie was in the dark about Cameron's situation, and it was going to stay that way.

The phone started ringing again, and Cameron cursed under her breath as she pulled it out of her pocket. The display bore Melanie's name and photo, which was an unattractive picture (which were few and far between) that Cameron had found buried deep within Melanie's Facebook. It was from her sorority days, and she more than likely was not sober.

"You better get that," Sookie suggested. Cameron rolled her eyes but accepted the call anyway.

"What?" she asked impatiently.

"_I don't know where the hell you are but you need to come back home immediately. We need to go,"_ Melanie demanded.

"Why?" Cameron questioned, not at all eager to return to an angry Melanie.

"_It's dad,"_ Melanie said simply, leaving Cameron at a loss for words. She wanted to ask a million questions, but she couldn't think of what to ask first. So she stayed quiet. Melanie started talking again, but Cameron tuned her out. After hearing a few key words, like _massive stroke_, _ICU_, and _major brain damage_, Cameron hung up on her sister.

"Is everythin' OK?" Sookie asked, looking at Cameron concernedly. Cameron doubted that Sookie had heard anything, but her expression must have been a dead giveaway that everything was not OK.

"I gotta go," Cameron mumbled, slipping her phone back into her pocket and slamming the trunk shut. Eric stepped back to avoid being hit, and settled by Sookie's side, watching as Cameron went around the car to the driver's seat.

"Call me if anything happens," Cameron instructed Sookie as she opened the door to get in the car. Sookie nodded, though she was still confused.

Eric disappeared, then reappeared next to the open door, soccer ball in hand.

"Come back soon," he said, handing the ball over to Cameron. He leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth, then went back to stand next to Sookie.

Not sure how to process what had just happened, Cameron threw the soccer ball in the backseat and started up the car. Without looking back, she started her car and drove back to Shreveport as quickly as she could. She wasn't exactly keen on going back to Dallas, especially if her dad was back in the hospital.

She definitely didn't want to visit him in the hospital. She wanted to ask him so many questions, but he wouldn't be able to answer any of them. There was so much that she needed to know; so much that she would probably never find out. For all she knew, her dad was already dead.

Cameron did her best to hold back the tears on her drive back, but there was too much pent up frustration. Too much confusion and anger. Not just at her dad, but Eric, and Sookie, and the whole situation in general. Why couldn't anything just go normally? Everything in her life was going wrong, and she had absolutely no control. There was nothing she could do about it.

The only relatively stable person in her life had lost his memory and was making her extremely confused. Melanie couldn't treat her like an adult if her life depended on it. Her remaining parent was probably about to die, if he wasn't already dead. And even if there weren't any noticeable signs, Cameron's mental health was slowly slipping. It would be years before there were any signs, but Cameron didn't want to waste them.

She remembered when they all started noticing changes in her father. He would forget things, was confused easily, and said a lot of things that didn't make sense. Looking back, Cameron realized that it wasn't forgetfulness or confusion. It was a blurring of the line between reality and his visions. He had been so young when it started, and he was still too young to be having as many problems as he was.

If her father really was in danger of dying, and all because of his visions, then Cameron wasn't going to risk wasting any time like he had.

But for now, she didn't have time to worry about Eric or Sookie. Vampires and fairies had no place in her world, not anymore.

* * *

><p>"Run Me Down" by the Black Keys<p>

I wrote this chapter here and there, so sorry if it's disjointed. I've also gotten really rusty. Oops.

Thoughts?


	28. Trouble Comes Knocking

I'm horrible for not posting anything in such a long time. School took over my life in a big way.

This is more or less the end. I'm just really done with this story, and unfortunately don't have the time to do much else besides this. Hopefully the length will appease some of you?

This takes place just between seasons four and five. Because Eric spends all of season five with the Authority, it seemed like a good stopping point.

If you have any questions at all about absolutely anything, please feel free to ask.

**Edit 3/24/2013: **This is a temporary ending. I have hopes of creating a sequel later this summer. Season 5 gave me nothing to work with besides personal growth for Cameron. Idk if you guys want that, maybe you do, but that wasn't really my goal. As a writer, I like to stick to canon as much as possible. Hopefully season 6 will give me more opportunities. Until then, you have this. Its open-ended. Deal with it.

* * *

><p>As soon as Cameron got home, Melanie shoved her into the car to leave for Dallas. Jackson was already asleep in the backseat of Melanie's BMW and Cameron's bag had already been packed for her. It took them a while to actually get on the road because Melanie was running around the house, trying to get everything together. She was close to tears couldn't keep her focus.<p>

Not wanting to get in a car wreck or hopelessly lost, Cameron insisted on driving. It would give her something to focus on for the three and a half hours. She didn't exactly want to reflect on her night with Eric and Sookie.

Once on the road, Melanie was a nervous wreck. She talked Cameron's ears off about funeral arrangements and who to call, who to invite to the funeral, what would happen to the estate, and when she should meet with the lawyers. Their father wasn't even dead yet and Melanie was already acting like the body was cold.

There was a lot that Cameron needed to think about, but she refused to let anything cross her mind. She kept is as blank as she could- only focusing on the road. As it was too late to call anyone, Melanie started shooting off e-mails. Cameron didn't really know who she was trying to contact, they didn't have much of a family left, and what members they did have, Cameron did not want to see any of them.

Because she was so focused on driving, Cameron was able to shave about forty minutes off the drive. They went immediately to the hospital and waited forever for a nurse to give them any sort of information. Melanie too the lead there while Cameron sat down in waiting area with Jackson.

After arguing with a nurse for fifteen minutes, Melanie came back to gather her sister and son.

"We can go see him now," she said, pulling Jackson to his feet.

"I'll leave you to it. I'll go make sure the hotel is ok," Cameron said while slumping down in her seat, indicating that she wasn't going anywhere.

"Like hell you're not seeing dad. Get up and let's go," Melanie nearly snapped. She was in no mood to be fucked with and Cameron wasn't sure she had the energy.

Frustrated with Cameron's indecision, Melanie grabbed at her sleeve to try and pull her up. Cameron pulled her arm back out of her sister's reach but stood up. They exchanged brief glares before they headed towards the ICU.

Melanie was explaining the situation to Jackson, telling him what to expect and how to act. Cameron was too busy trying to figure out how _she_ was supposed to act. There was hardly anything that she hated more in the world than seeing her father, especially now that she knew the truth.

He could have saved her the misery of her teen years. He could have told her that she wasn't alone and that she wasn't crazy. Now he couldn't even apologize for that.

When they got to the room, Melanie quietly and gently ushered Jackson into the private room with Cameron reluctantly following. It wasn't an unfamiliar sight, seeing her dad in a hospital bed. In fact, the image had replaced almost all of her memories of her father. Every time she thought of him its what she saw. She had to actively remember happier memories from her childhood. As far as she was concerned, the body in the bed was just a shell and her real father had died a long time ago.

Melanie and Jackson spoke to the unconscious body, while Cameron hung back in the corner. There was no point. He was gone, and had been for a while. Medically, he was still alive, but there was a very slim chance that he would pull through. If he did, he'd still be an incoherent borderline vegetable.

Melanie refused to let anyone leave, and mandated that they had to stay until visiting hours were over. After a while, Jackson passed out in the only chair, and Melanie took to sitting on the floor on top of a sweatshirt next to the chair. Not long after she sat down, Melanie fell asleep with her head against the armrest of the chair. Cameron took her chance to sneak out of the room.

She wandered around the hospital, staying out of the way and avoiding high traffic areas. She made sure to never look into rooms with open doors.

There wasn't much for her to do. The gift shop had closed and she wasn't hungry enough to go to the cafeteria. There was a garden outside of the main entrance of the hospital, but when she looked outside, a bunch of workers were occupying the only benches and smoking. Cameron turned around and continued walking around the hospital.

Eventually Cameron realized that she had the car keys in her back pocket. She could leave any time she wanted to. Though, she didn't think Melanie would be too happy if she did go to the hotel.

Instead, Cameron decided that maybe she could leave for a little while and come back with food, and then Melanie would forgive her. It was a transparent plan, but the inescapable smell of cleaning supplies was starting to bother her.

Following all of the signs for the nearest exit, Cameron ended up in the waiting room of the ER. It was early in the morning, so very few people were there. A few tired looking nurses, a bored looking receptionist, and a few people sitting around the room, filling out paperwork or dozing off.

Cameron walked up to the receptionist's desk to ask for directions to the blue parking garage, and to see if she had any suggestions for breakfast when she was able to pick up on the distant sound of sirens approaching. It wasn't uncommon for an ambulance to visit an emergency room. The nurses stood up and started preparing themselves, and the receptionist looked up at Cameron expectantly.

"Where's the blue garage?" she asked. The receptionist rolled her eyes and pointed towards the door.

"Out there and to the right. Can't miss it," she said. Cameron nodded and turned away from the desk in time to see the ambulance pull up to the automatic doors. EMTs jumped out and started unloading a gurney. As they approached the door, Cameron stepped to the side to let them pass.

She tried not to look, to mind her own business, but the bloodied and mangled mess of a person strapped to the gurney was too much to ignore. The bright red mess grabbed Cameron's attention and wouldn't let go.

Blood was smeared everywhere and the flesh of the victim's chest and neck was absolutely shredded. Blood was matted in their hair, and Cameron was having a difficult time figuring out if it was a man or woman.

"Christ, what the hell happened?" one of the nurses who rushed to greet them asked.

"Another fangbanger. Someone found him in the street near that fanger club in Deep Ellum," the older looking EMT answered gruffly.

The nurses, EMTs, and gurney disappeared around a corner and the ambulance drove off. The ER waiting room was once again quiet.

Cameron wondered just how many people like that came through hospitals. Were vampire attacks really all that common? Were they usually that savage?

She tried to shake off the newly forming doubts and questions as she walked to the parking garage, but she couldn't help but wonder if she was heading down a similar road. If she kept hanging around vampires, would that be her fate? Either go crazy or have her throat ripped out by vampires?

As that thought occurred to her, Cameron panicked. She spotted Melanie's car and ran towards it, throwing herself into the driver's seat and locking herself inside. As soon as she was seated, fat tears started rolling down her cheeks.

She didn't want to end up in an emergency room and she didn't want to end up in a nursing home twenty years prematurely. No matter what, it seemed that her life would end in a hospital. She'd either be like her father, suffering from severe Alzheimer's or dementia, or whatever they decided to label it, with stroke after stroke, or being savagely attacked by a vampire.

The pressure of the situation was finally cracking Cameron's protective shell. She was starting to lose her grip on reason, and suddenly everything seemed so hopeless. She wanted someone to tell her that everything would be fine, that she would live a long and healthy life, free of violence and mental institutions. But she was alone in a hospital parking garage, and knew that both were false.

For a long time she was worried that she would die by Eric's hands. Somewhere along the line, that fear faded away. He gained her trust, but whether or not he really earned it was questionable. For as long as Eric was a vampire, he would be a threat. For as long as he was in her life, Cameron's safety was at risk.

It may not have been fair to judge Eric against the actions of some unknown Dallas vampire, but Cameron was looking for a sign. Her biggest worry was whether or not to leave Eric with Sookie, or continue on with him in her life. Both options were unbearable. Choosing between a broken heart and constant worry and danger was a tough choice that she wasn't sure that she was ready to make.

As she worked through only hours earlier, Cameron really did love Eric. It was a strange idea to her, but it seemed true enough. It wasn't the traditional sort of romantic love that is idealized by teenagers reading Jane Austen, but she did deeply care for him.

Cameron wanted the best for Eric, even if that meant that he remained with Sookie. Even though she wanted to be selfish and keep him to herself, she was also afraid. If he stayed with Sookie, then she wouldn't have to be. She could live out the short remainder of her life as best she could. She could be as normal as possible, hold a real job at a company that operates during the daytime. She could hang out with humans and her only connection to vampires would be news reports.

Allowing herself a few more minutes of hopeless crying, Cameron finally managed to calm herself down with a few deep breaths. She did her best to think of something else because she couldn't keep crying in the hospital parking garage.

She shot Melanie a quick text that briefly explained that she was running errands and would be back later. Then she pulled out of the garage and drove away from the hospital. She did her best to stall, but eventually she picked up some bagels so that she would have something to show for her time when she arrived back at the hospital.

All signs of the vampire attack victim in the emergency room were gone, though the image was still fresh in Cameron's mind. When she got back to her father's room, Melanie was awake and reading a newspaper.

"Why do you look like you're gonna be sick?" Melanie asked her sister.

"What?" Cameron asked, too deep inside her own head to hear Melanie the first time.

"You look awful," Melanie restated.

"I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind."

"Wanna talk?" Melanie offered. The two sisters rarely shared things with each other. The offer was nice, but Cameron didn't think it would be a good idea to unload.

"No."

"It'll help," Melanie pushed.

Cameron shook her head and leaned against the door jamb, arms crossed across her chest to signify that she did not feel like talking.

"Is it about dad?" Melanie guessed. Cameron rolled her eyes but said nothing.

"OK, didn't think so. Work?" Melanie guessed again. Cameron did her best to not respond. It wasn't exactly work that was bothering her.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me. If you can't tell your own sister, who can you tell?" Melanie tried to reason. "It always helps to talk about things. You've been acting differently for a while now I worry about you. You're my baby sister and I just don't understand you sometimes."

"I'm in love with a vampire," Cameron responded sardonically. It was an absurd truth, and saying it out loud made her feel uncomfortable and foolish. Was she really in love with a vampire?

Yes, and she had just admitted it to her sister.

Melanie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "If you won't be serious, then fine."

Cameron gazed across the room at her sister with such a serious expression that Melanie's face instantly dropped and the air in the room started to feel heavy.

"_You_?" Melanie accused, unable to believe that her sister even _knew_ a vampire.

"It's my boss. He hired me to redesign his website and then we started fucking and now shit's weird and I don't want to go back to Shreveport," Cameron babbled.

"Are you in danger?" Melanie asked before she even tried to make sense of Cameron's elaboration.

Cameron had to think. Was she really in danger? Definitely in the beginning. But Eric was relatively safe. As far as vampires go.

"No," she finally answered.

"OK. So, your boss. His website. What kind of website?"

"He owns a bar and it looked like it would have been a cutting edge website in 1999. I also helped with the books," Cameron explained. She made sure to keep clear of the seeing the future detail. She may have had a case of word vomit but she was able to afford some discretion.

"Christ, Cam. Is he hot?"

"What the fuck, Mel?" Cameron blanched. Out of everything to discuss, her sister chose to talk about how attractive Eric was.

"Well, I don't know what else to ask! Usually when your baby sister tells you that she's seeing someone, you ask if they're hot! I don't know the protocol for vampire boyfriends!" Melanie defended herself.

"Yes, he's hot. He makes People's Sexiest Man look like a bowl of chili."

"Well, good for you," Melanie shrugged.

"He also has some baggage."

"Baggage?" Melanie prodded.

"A sort of ex who is part fairy and he was pining for her for a while. Then it seemed like he got over her, and as soon as that happened, she came back and I don't know," Cameron tried to explain the sequence of events without getting into too much detail, but her thoughts were becoming jumbled.

"Part fairy? Does she live in a toadstool?"

"No but she has powers and shit and she's pretty and has a charming Louisiana accent and they have history I guess."

"Do you want to borrow my pushup bra?" Melanie offered.

"No. I just don't even want to see either of them. It's his thing that he needs to work out," Cameron said.

"Don't be such a martyr and take what you want. If you love someone, don't let them go," Melanie advised. She was being surprisingly supportive, which caught Cameron a little off guard.

"I thought that if you loved something, you let it go," Cameron argued.

"I think you should do whatever makes you happy. Screw this guy and forget the home wrecking ex. What do you want?" Melanie posed a good question. What did she want? Cameron had no idea. All she could do in response was shrug her shoulders.

"I don't think it matters what I want," Cameron finally muttered. For as long as she'd known Eric, she never really had a choice. Not really. He called the shots and she went along with it. Whatever he wanted, she would be fine with.

Melanie sighed. She looked like she wanted to get up and hug her sister, but she decided against it at the last minute.

"I'll give his address to the Fellowship of the Sun if you want me too," Melanie offered with a playful smirk, attempting to cheer up her sister. Cameron returned the expression, but even just joking about Eric in danger bothered her.

The sisters fell into a comfortable silence, both too caught up in their own heads to carry on conversation.

Cameron knew that the Fellowship of the Sun was no threat to Eric. They were simply a nuisance, and were too unorganized to get anything done without a leader anyway. Eric was way out of their league. Or at least the Eric she knew and loved was. She wasn't so sure about this new version of him. She was having trouble remembering that it was still him.

She hoped that Sookie was taking care of him, and that he wasn't getting too attached. She worried that in her absence, he would turn to Sookie to fill her place. In the small amount of time that she had spent with him, it seemed as if he preferred her over Sookie, but how long could that possibly last? Especially if she wasn't even there? Out of sight, out of mind.

But perhaps that was for the best. What could she reasonably expect from a relationship with Eric? Assuming he got better, that is. It's not like they'd ever get married or have kids. Cameron didn't even want that with a normal human. He was the only person who knew about her ability, and she wanted to keep it that way. What normal guy would want to be with a crazy girl anyway?

And she certainly didn't want to become a vampire. She didn't want to live forever. She didn't want to be a slave to blood. The power seemed cool, but it was hardly a consolation prize. She liked daylight and pizza, not having to worry about silver jewelry, or when the sun was going to come up.

After several days of no contact, Cameron grew anxious. For once in her life, she was desperately hoing for visions, but hardly any came. She would see flashes of things, but nothing that seemed relevant. She saw a crowd dressed in black, a tombstone with her father's name on it. Neither were earth shattering revelations. She saw the interior of Fangtasia with chairs and barstools stacked on top of the bar and tables while Ginger mopped the floor. There was a quick image of what seemed to be a large bonfire.

"Jesus! Quit bouncing your leg!" Melanie shouted, slapping Cameron's thigh.

"Ow, bitch!" Cameron cried out in pain. The sisters glared at each other in frustration. After spending practically every single moment together in close quarters for several days, Cameron and Melanie were at each other's throats.

Melanie slapped Cameron's leg again in response to the name calling.

"You're being a total pain. You know that, right?" Melanie complained.

"I'm so sorry that you're not having fun at the hospital," Cameron muttered. Melanie sighed dramatically.

"Seriously, though. You've been on edge for days. Just go," Melanie finally said.

"Go where? The waiting room makes me sick and the hotel room makes me want to claw my eyes out."

"No, I mean go claim your guy. I don't need you here and I can tell that you're miserable, so go get your fella," Melanie said.

"My fella?"

"You know what I mean. Look, it's weird and I don't entirely get your situation, and I probably never will because let's face it, you're kind of mysterious. But I'm not going to stand in the way of true love," Melanie explained.

"I wouldn't call it true love," Cameron said, "and I'm not mysterious."

"Yes you are. You remind me a lot of dad. It seemed like he always knew everything. I snuck out hundreds of times in high school, and I never got caught. But I swear he knew. Things like that. You always seem like you know so much more than I do, like you're in on some cosmic secret," Melanie rambled, her voice taking on a reminiscent tone.

Cameron knew her sister was talking about her visions, but she wasn't about to own up to it. Admitting that she hung around a vampire was enough. She figured that the less Melanie knew, the better off everyone would be. She didn't want her only sister getting caught up in any kind of trouble.

She struggled to come up with something to say in response, but came up short.

"Anyway, I think you should go. You've never been normal, and I don't mean that as a bad thing," Melanie finally said after a few minutes of silence.

Cameron looked hard at her sister, trying to read her. She didn't think that she knew anything, but Cameron could tell that she genuinely believed what she was saying.

"What about dad?" Cameron finally asked, ignoring the claims of being different or special.

"You and I both know that he stopped being dad a long time ago," Melanie answered honestly, shocking her sister with her answer. But Cameron had to agree. She had said goodbye to her father a long time ago. The body in the hospital bed was nearly unrecognizable.

It didn't take much more of an effort for Melanie to get Cameron on the road and back to Shreveport. At times Cameron found herself driving well over the speed limit. She was in a desperate hurry to get back. She hadn't realized it back at the hospital in Dallas, but she was worried for Eric. She was far more concerned than she anticipated.

Once she drove past Shreveport city limits, she slowed down. She had no idea where she was going. She had just assumed that Eric would be with Sookie at her house in Bon Temps, but suddenly she was doubting that. The sun had set a few hours ago, so he would be awake. Maybe he was watching TV with Sookie, or maybe she had missed some major drama and he was back to his old self.

Cameron did a drive by of Fangtasia, but as soon as she turned onto the street, she got a feeling deep in her gut that she was in the wrong place. He wasn't there.

Cameron had no idea where he lived, or spent his daytime hours. She didn't even know if vampires had homes. She couldn't imagine Eric with a kitchen or bathroom. She couldn't picture him watching TV or doing anything remotely domestic. If he had a house, he surely had a maid.

Eric's home life wasn't what she needed to be concerned with, though. Cameron quickly passed by Fangtasia and decided to head straight to the source of the problem at hand- Bon Temps.

She drove considerably slower to the small town. The roads were narrow, dimly lit, and a bit rough. Typical country roads. A stray possum in the road nearly caused Cameron to swerve into a ditch. She then and there decided that she detested the country.

Sookie's house looked empty. No lights were on and everything seemed still. Not even bothering to turn off the car, Cameron stepped out of her car and called Eric's name. She waited a moment, but nothing happened. With a huff she got back in her car and went back down the gravel drive to the road.

Once at the end of the driveway, Cameron paused. She didn't really know where else to go. Sookie's house was been the only place she had been to in Bon Temps.

Cameron let out a cry of frustration, suddenly overcome with the horrible feeling of helplessness. She slumped against her steering wheel and sighed. That wasn't enough to let out her pent up emotion, so she screamed, expressing her anger, frustration, and vulnerability. There was nothing she could do.

Before she could even think about crying, her car door opened.

"Somehow, I didn't imagine your screams to be so shrill."

Cameron had thrown up her firsts in desperate defense before she recognized that it was Eric who had frightened her.

"Don't make me laugh," Eric smiled, and gently pushed Cameron's fists down.

"What the fuck?!" was somehow the only thing Cameron could think to say.

"Why did you come here?" Eric asked, ignoring her curses.

"For you, asshole!" For some reason, anger was the only feeling that Cameron could express.

"You should leave," Eric told her. He removed his hands from on top of her loosening fists. It wasn't until he pulled away that she even noticed that his hands were there.

"I just got here. I did not drive all the way from Dallas for this. What the fuck happened?" Cameron demanded.

"That's a story for another time. Right now, you need to go home," he instructed her again.

"Not until you tell me what's going on. I'll help you. I can tell something's wrong. Let me help," Cameron offered, though it sounded more like begging.

"You can't. You'll do more good if you stay completely uninvolved. I promised that I wouldn't let anyone find out about you, and I intend to keep that secret. I can only do that if you're gone," he said.

"Where's Sookie?" Cameron asked, changing the topic, which had become rather ominous sounding.

"I don't know. It's none of my concern now," Eric said, filling Cameron with a warm feeling of satisfaction. He didn't seem to care where Sookie was.

"Does Pam know you're OK now? I bet she's been just as anxious as I have," Cameron asked, trying to hide her contentment, though it was pointless because of Eric's blood within her.

"It will be better if you unconcern yourself with me," Eric said, taking a step back and grasping her car door, preparing to close it on her.

Cameron twisted in the car seat and stuck out her leg, bracing her foot firmly against the door. If Eric tried to close the door on her, he would break her leg. It seemed like a good enough security to keep him there a bit longer.

"Well tough shit because I'm already here and it is very much too late to unconcern myself with you," Cameron told him earnestly. It was almost as good as a real admission of love in her book.

Eric attempted to stare her down, to break her resolve with a warning glare, but she kept steadfast. She was determined. Cameron returned his hard stare, and pretty soon his gaze softened.

"Bad things are about to happen," he warned.

"Hey, it's my job to tell the future," Cameron joked, trying to lighten the suddenly somber mood. It didn't work.

"I won't be able to protect you. You need to go home, pretend that we never met, that you have never heard of me."

"Don't let this further inflate your ego, but I don't think I could forget you," Cameron confessed.

Eric's expression suddenly hardened.

"I'm not sure what you don't understand about this. There are things that are stronger and more powerful than me. I won't take you down with me," Eric tried to explain as vaguely as he could, hoping to convey the stress of the situation to Cameron without revealing anything. The more she knew, the more trouble she would be in. That much Cameron could see. But she just couldn't let Eric go that easily. Not without answers. She had been through too much to just let him go like that.

Eric could feel her conflict. He firmly grabbed her ankle and moved her leg away from the car door and prepared to shut it on her.

"Are you expecting to go down?" Cameron asked, allowing him to herd her back into the car.

"It's out of my hands. Now leave before you get involved," Eric ordered, reaching around Cameron to buckle her seatbelt for her.

"You think you're going to die and you don't even tell me goodbye or anything?!" Cameron shouted at him, overwhelmed with a horrible feeling of dread. Eric was the strongest thing she knew. It was impossible to imagine anything that could threaten him or take him down.

"You're just going to send me on my way home and walk to your death and I'll never see you again? Fuck you! This is so typical! The second I decide that I might love someone they fucking die!" She continued to yell. Eric silently took the abuse.

"You don't love me."

"Fuck you. I might!"

"You need to leave. Go home, live a normal life. Get a daytime job, marry a human, get fat."

"And then what? Pull a Virginia Woolf? I'm not normal!" Cameron was getting frantic. The conversation was starting to feel a lot like rejection.

How could Eric suggest she live a normal life? He of all people knew that she was far from a normal human. She had no hope. It seemed as if her only options were die alone in a loony bin or die by vampires.

Eric's face grew dark. He was quickly losing patience. Time was sensitive.

"I don't care what you do! Stay here and get killed, marry an accountant, kill yourself, it doesn't matter to me. If you won't listen to me, then your life is no longer my concern." Eric stepped away from the car, slammed her door shut, and disappeared into the night, leaving Cameron stunned to silence.

Cameron wasn't sure if she should cry, yell, drive into a lake, or go home and wait for something to happen. She was feeling confused and conflicted. But mostly she was hurt. She knew he probably didn't mean what he said. He was trying to protect her. But Cameron couldn't help but wonder what had him so worried.

Whatever was about to happen, Cameron hoped that Eric would be OK. He was clever and strong. Surely he could take care of himself. He would certainly be able to find a way out of whatever trouble he was in. And until then, she would wait.

* * *

><p>"Fortune Teller" by Forest Fire<p>

"Trouble Comes Knocking" by Timber Timbre


End file.
